The Spacer King
by Wherever Girl
Summary: Young Jim Hawkins is to be the Spacer King, but the villainous Scroop has different plans for him and his father, Leland...
1. Chapter 1: Ceremony of The Spacer Prince

Hello, readers! Once again, I have been overcome with an idea for another story (gotta love the active imagination).

I give you a story about a Disney character, whose life is parodized with a different plot from a different Disney movie…

A movie that made us all laugh, taught us about life and death, and how you can't run away from the past but learn from it, and filled our heads with memorable songs that will be parodied within this story.

Please read and enjoy my story… _The Spacer King!_

(disclaimer: I don't own the plot or the Treasure Planet characters.)

* * *

><p>The outer reaches of space was quiet, the stars being the only source of brightness over the planet Montressor. The sun then rose, shedding light on the planet and throughout the skies.<p>

Several ships fly through the stars, heading towards the small planet, the sunlight shining on their solar-powered sails. Large Mantabirds fly around the sails, following the ships to the docks.

On Montressor, several aliens and humanoid creatures stepped out of their homes, heading down the path toward a large hill, some of them walking, others going by carriage.

_**From the day we arrive on the planet**_

_**And blinking, step into the sun**_

The children came running and skipping through the streets, some of them slowing down to walk alongside their parents. A couple other kids raced across the street, one of them nearly getting run over by a slug-horse, coming close to getting trampled.

_**There's more to see than can ever be seen**_

_**More to do than can ever be done**_

Several ships docked, the crew tying down the sails and securing their vessels, then hurrying toward a large hill.

_**There's far too much to take in here**_

_**More to find than can ever be found**_

The crowd gathered around a large hill, the rest of the spacers standing on the docks. They all looked toward the large building that sat on top of the hill, which they all knew well as the Benbow Inn.

_**But the sun rolling high**_

_**Through the sapphire sky**_

_**Keeps great and small on the endless round**_

A carriage zipped by, heading toward the large hill. In front of the Benbow stood a man with brown hair, gentle blue eyes, wearing a spacing outfit. He was well known as Leland Hawkins, the Spacer King.

_**It's the circle of life**_

_**And it moves us all**_

Out of the carriage climbed out a canidid wearing spectacles and a fine tailored suit. He was known as Doctor Delbert Doppler, Leland's top astronomer and navigator. With him was a large rock-like creature wearing a red suit-jacket and white pants, and a black triangular hat. He was Mr. Arrow, Leland's second mate. They gave a small bow to their captain, earning a nodding smile in return.

_**Through despair and hope**_

_**Through faith and love**_

The spacers on the dock parted, making a path for a felinid with brown hair, green eyes, wearing a blue suit-jacket, and long white boots. With her was a small pink blob who hovered above her shoulder. She was known as Captain Amelia Smollet, and the blob was her shape-shifting comrade, Morph. They made their way toward the Benbow.

_**Till we find our place**_

_**On the path unwinding**_

Amelia shook hands with Leland, while Morph gave him a lick on the face, making the man chuckle, and he lead them inside the Benbow.

_**In the circle**_

_**The circle of life…**_

He lead them up to a room, where his wife, Sarah Hawkins, lied in bed with their child in her arms. The child was a small, blue-eyed boy with a patch of brown hair on his head. Morph turned into a rattle, shaking himself above the baby's head, making the infant giggle and try to grab him. Amelia then took out a small medal, placing it around the baby's neck, and he began to chew on it, making his parents chuckle.

Sarah then handed the baby to Amelia, who carried him toward a window with a balcony, which over-looked the crowd below. She then held up the baby for all to see, the sunlight shining down on him.

_**It's the circle of life**_

_**And it moves us all**_

The crowd cheered with delight, most of the spacers throwing their hats into the air with glee.

_**Through despair and hope**_

_**Through faith and love**_

The baby looked down at them all, his eyes wide at his first view of the world around him.

_**Till we find our place**_

_**On the path unwinding**_

The crowd then began to bow in respect toward the baby, knowing that this was the son of Leland Hawkins, the Spacer Prince and future king.

_**In the circle **_

_**The circle of life**_

His name is Jim Hawkins, and this is his story...

* * *

><p>Now, everyone was ecstatic about the birth of the Spacer Prince, but there was one creature who wasn't so giddy about it.<p>

Down in the galley, a small lizardian-rat skittered across the counter, looking around to make sure the coast was clear. Seeing a crumb off to the side, it crawled over and began to munch on it, until it's nose twitch, sensing something. It let out a startled squeak and tried to run, but was caught by the tail by a large, red claw.

"Life isssn't fair, isss it?" a sinister voice asked, and the lizardian-rat found itself looking at the bright-yellow-eyed face of a large red manticore. The creature was known as Scroop, Leland's first mate. "I don't get to rule the Etherium and you… Well, you won't sssee the light of another day," he then dangled the rat over a pot of boiling stew, making it shriek in terror.

"Didn't your mother tell you not to play with your food?" Came a voice, and Scroop turned to see Delbert standing beside him, hands on hips. Mr. Arrow was with him, looking just as stern.

Scroop rolled his eyes, setting the rat on the counter but keeping a grip on its tail. "What do you want?"

"I'm hear to announce Captain Leland is on his way… so you'd BETTER have a good excuse for not showing up at the ceremony this morning." Mr. Arrow said, firmly.

The rat managed to tug its tail free and skittered away. "Oh, look, guysss, you made me lossse the special ingredient for dinner,"

"Ha! You'll lose more than THAT when Leland gets here," Delbert scoffed. "He's as mad as a felinid with a hang-nail."

"Ooh, I quiver with fear…" Scroop raised his claw, drawing close to Delbert.

"N-Now, Scroop, don't look at me that way! We talked about this- HELP!" Delbert tried to duck behind Mr. Arrow, but Scroop caught him by the throat and pinned him against the wall, choking him. "Gack! Arrow! A little assistance!"

Mr. Arrow didn't have to do anything, because Leland's voice rang throughout the galley. "SCROOP!" the captain bellowed, and he stepped down, glowering at his first-mate.

"Yessss?" Scroop asked, innocently.

"Let him go,"

"Impeccable timing, Captain!" Delbert choked out, and Scroop dropped him. He rubbed his neck, gasping for air, then turned to Mr. Arrow. "Is my throat bleeding?"

Scroop skittered toward Leland, casually. "Well, if it isssn't the captain, come down from hisss high posssition to mingle with the crew," he said, sarcastically.

Leland kept a stern expresison. "Sarah and I didn't see you at the presentation of Jim," he said.

Scroop feigned shock. "That wasss today?" he walked over to the wall, pressing his claws against it. "Oh, I feel sssimply awful!"

*Screeeeeech!*

He scraped his claws against the metallic wall, making Delbert flinch. The manticore looked at his claws, nonchalantly. "Musssst've sssslipped my mind."

"Well, as slippery as your mind is, you're the King's first mate," Mr. Arrow pointed out.

"And as the first mate you should've been first in line!" Delbert added, stepping up to Scroop- ducking behind Mr. Arrow when the manticore snapped his claw at him.

"Oh, I wasss firsst in line… until that little whelp wasss born," Scroop retorted, glaring closely at Delbert when he peeked out.

"That 'whelp' happens to be my son," Leland said, stepping in front of Scroop and glaring face-to-face with him. "And YOUR future Captain,"

"Oh, excussse me while I practice tipping my hat," Scroop then turned to skitter off.

"Don't turn your back on me, Scroop!"

"Likewissse, Leland. Perhapsss YOU ssssshouldn't turn your back on ME."

Leland ran and leaped onto a table and in front of Scroop, aiming a pistol at his chest. "Is that a challenge?"

Scroop kept a stoic expression. "Temper, temper. I wouldn't DREAM of challenging my life-long bessst friend,"

"Friend, puh. You challenged him every chance you got back in the day," Mr. Arrow scoffed. "Why wouldn't you challenge him now?"

"Becausssse as far as our friendsssship went I wasss the brainssss of the outfit. But, when it came to brute ssstrength," he gave Leland a sneer and walked past him. "I'm afraid I wasss the ssshallow part of our partnersssship then." With that, he skittered up the steps and out of sight.

"Ha. He wasn't like that at the Interstellar Academy," Leland huffed.

"Ah, there's one in every crew's family, sir… two in mine," Delbert said. "And they always manage to ruin special occasions."

Leland sighed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with him?"

"My suggestion would be to throw him into the hull and force him to live in the shadows," Mr. Arrow said.

"Arrow!"

"No, no, he's got a point. Then Arrow could be your first mate, I'd be your second, and if Scroop ever showed his ugly mug on the deck, you could grab a can of bug-spray and spray him!" Delbert joked.

Leland and Arrow joined in a laugh, and they headed back on deck.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, there's the first chapter! Sorry if the character roles aren't what you expect so far, but I've got a reason for such, which I'll explain throughout the story. …Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please tell me what you think. (no flames, please).


	2. Chapter 2: A King's Position in Life

Next chapter, here we go.

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><p>The seasons went by twelve times on Montressor, an occasional cloud-cover shifting through the starry skies of the galaxy. On a ship, sailing not too far from the planet, Captain Amelia sat in her office, looking over a few charter maps.<p>

Morph floated in, deciding to do different impressions. Amelia watched as he shifted into a manta-bird, a miniature Amelia, and a small ship pretending to sail across her map. She let out a short chuckle, continuing with her work. The small blob then changed into a small boy with brown hair, part of it tied into a rat-tail, riding around on a solar-surfer.

Amelia smiled. "Jim is growing up fast, isn't he?" she asked him, and he returned into his original shape, nodding. "He's going to be quite a captain, isn't he?"

"Quite a captain!" Morph repeated, turning into Jim wearing a captain's uniform.

Amelia lightly chuckled. "Yes indeed,"

* * *

><p>The next morning, the sun began to dawn over Montressor, the last of the nightly shadows lightly fading from the Benbow Inn. A young 12-year-old Jim looked out his window, an excited look on his face, and he raced across the room, hurrying to pull on his boots and jacket and ran down the hall. "Dad! Dad!" he called, bumping into a few early-rising patrons as he ran. "Whoops- 'scuse me- coming through-" he then burst into his parent's room, jumping on his father's side of the bed. "C'mon dad! Wake up!"<p>

"Our son is awake," Sarah said groggily to Leland.

"Before sunrise, he's YOUR son," Leland replied, pretending to remain asleep, though he wasn't fooling Jim.

"Dad, c'mon!" Jim griped, shaking his dad. He then jumped on his stomach, finally making his father open one of his eyes. "You promised!"

Jim gave his father an angry-looking pout, and he sighed. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up." Leland said, sitting up.

"Alright!" Jim crawled off the bed, running out of the room.

Leland let out a yawn and crawled out of bed. He and Sarah got dressed and met Jim outside, and he led his son toward the docks onto his ship, _RLS Legacy. _He and Jim climbed onto the branching masts, hanging on as their ship took off, Sarah waving to them from the docks.

The ship sailed from Montressor, just as the sun's rays brightened the sky. Jim and Leland stood on the masts, gazing across the infinite galaxy around them. "Cool…" Jim said, looking around. A space-whale floated by, much to his delight. "Whoa!"

"Amazing universe, isn't it?" Leland rhetorically asked, patting his son's shoulder. "Just wait until you're King of the Spacers- traveling all over the Etherium, visiting different galaxies."

"It's going to be awesome! I can't wait to go exploring, sailing through the stars and having a different adventure each day!"

Leland chuckled. "Yes, but before you learn about the rest of the universe, you must learn about your own home planet, first. Because, each spacer needs a home to come back to, because that's where his greatest adventure begins," He stretched his arm out, motioning to the Etherium. "It is the most important part of this kingdom we call Space. Everywhere the stars shine, and everywhere the light can shine, is our kingdom,"

"Wow…" Jim looked around at all the stars and the planets out in the distance, which became highlighted by the sun.

"A king's time is risen and lowered like the sails of a ship. One day, Jim, the sails will be lowered in my time here, and will be raised with you as the new king."

Jim smiled, looking across the galaxy. "So, I'll be sailing through all this?"

"Everywhere,"

The ship sailed to the other side of Montressor, and Jim studied the vast landscapes of hills and cliffs, small neighborhoods and shops, everything becoming brightened by the light of the rising sun. "Everywhere the light can shine…" Jim looked down at a gorge, where an abandoned mining field stood, shadowed enveloping it. "What about that shadowed gorge down there?"

"Those are the forbidden cliffs, you must never go there,"

"But I thought a Captain could sail wherever he wants, especially if he's the Spacer King!"

"Ah, but there's more to being a king than just… getting your way all the time,"

Jim's eyes widened. "There's MORE?"

Leland chuckled. "Ah, Jim…"

* * *

><p>The ship sailed toward the Space Port, as Leland continued his lecture with Jim, this time they both stood at the bough of the ship. "Everything you see on the ship, on every ship in the entire universe, exists together in a delicate balance," he was saying as they arrived at the docks. "As king, you must learn to understand that balance, from the smallest cabin boy to the mightiest captain."<p>

"But, Dad, doesn't the captain have more authority than the cabin boy?" Jim asked.

"Yes, Jim, but the cabin boy is just as important as any member of the crew. The cabin boy assists the cook, who prepares meals to give the crew its strength, and the crew helps the Captain sail his vessel, who guides them from one port to another to pick up supplies. Each position has a different job, but each member serves the same purpose: to make sure the vessel arrives at it's destination safely. We all have an important position in the circle of life,"

"Good morning, Captain!" Delbert exclaimed, stepping up to Leland.

"Morning, Delbert. How is our navigation looking for next week?"

"Well, the radar appears to be clear, though there's been a forecast for a 45% chance of meteor-showers near the Lagoon Nebula…"

Jim rolled his eyes as Delbert spoke with Leland, then took out a toy dart-gun, ducking behind barrels and crates, trying to remain hidden, rolling across the deck but bumped into his father. "Jim, what are you doing?"

"Practicing my ambush, just in case we ever encounter pirates," Jim replied.

Leland chuckled. "You're a little off…"

"…And I've TRIED to locate a different course on the charts, but I spilled my coffee on one of them and it left a horrid stain-" Delbert continued on.

"Delbert, could you turn around, please?"

"Oh, yes of course, sir." Delbert turned his back to Leland.

Leland knelt beside Jim, standing by the masts. "Now, if you REALLY want to get the drop on a pirate, you have to crouch low but keep your pistol raised…"

Delbert looked over his shoulder. "What are you doing back there, Captain?"

"Just giving Jim some ambush-lessons,"

"Ah, ambush-lessons. Yes, that's a technique a young man must- AMBUSH LESSONS?" Delbert turned around. "Oh, you can't be serious!" Leland made a swirling motion with his finger, ordering the astronomer to turn back around. "Oh, this is going to be just dreadful…"

Leland whispered to Jim. "Now, keep low when ducking behind a crate," the two of them ducked behind a crate. "And don't poke your entire head out, just turn it toward the edge far enough to peek around the corner to make sure the coast is clear, then you roll toward the mast and stand up straight against it…"

"Right," Jim whispered, carefully peeking out to make sure Delbert still had his back turned then rolled across the deck toward the mast.

"What are you telling him, Leland?" Delbert asked, turning around, but didn't see Jim nor Leland in sight. He heard a thumping sound to his right, but didn't see anyone. "Leland? Jim?"

"YAH!" Jim cried diving out from behind a barrel and shooting a dart onto Delbert's forehead.

"AUGH!" Delbert fell back, startled.

Leland stood up from behind the barrel, laughing hid head off. "That's my boy!" he exclaimed, patting Jim on the back as his son walked up to him. "Well done, Jim, you caught him completely off guard! Now, this time…"

"Sir! I just received news from the Galactic Authorities!" Mr. Arrow called from the upper deck. "There's been a pirate-sighting on the east side of the Spaceport, and the police request your assistance!"

Leland nodded, then lead Delbert and Jim down to the hull, having them climb into a longboat. "Delbert, take Jim back home,"

"Aw, Dad, can't I come?" Jim pleaded.

"No, Jim, it's too dangerous," With that, Leland opened the hatch and had them fly toward their home-planet.

Jim rested his head on his fist. "Man… I never get to see ANY action,"

"Don't worry, Jim. Soon, you'll be the Spacer King, and you'll be sending those brutish, ill-mannered scallywags to the gallows where they belong,"

* * *

><p>Back on Montressor, Scroop walked along the docks, angrily kicking a can off the edge, having it roll down the rocks with a few clangs before disappearing into the abyss below. As if he wasn't in a bad enough mood, Jim came along, running up to his side. "Hey, Scroop, guess what?" he said, eagerly.<p>

Scroop clenched his teeth, rolling his eyes. "I dessspise guesssssing gamessss," he muttered.

"I'm going to be King of the Spacers,"

"Oh, goody…"

"My Dad told me all about the universe and even took me out on his ship, and I'm going to own it someday and explore the whole Etherium, heh heh."

"Right… Well, excusssse me for not leaping for joy, three of my legsss have fallen assssleep," With that, he sat down on a crate, resting his chin on the curve of his claw, glowering into the distance.

Jim walked over and sat beside him. "Hey, Scroop, when I'm Captain of my dad's ship, what will that make you?"

"A prisssssoner in the brig,"

Jim chuckled. "You're so weird,"

Scroop gave him a stoic glance. "You have no idea…" He stood up, skittering down the deck, heading up the path toward the Benbow. "SSSo, I assssssume your father ssssshowed you around the whole planet, did he?"

"He showed me everything!" Jim hopped down and followed the manticore.

"I ssseee, did he show you that sssshadowed gorge toward the north?"

Jim sighed, sadly. "No… he said I can't go there,"

"And he'ssss absssolutely right, it'sssss far to dangerousssss- only the BRAVESSST ssspacers go there,"

Jim gave him a stern look, puffing out his chest a bit. "But I'm brave! What's out-"

Scroop shook his head, looking away. "SSSorry, Jim, I can't tell you,"

Jim ran around to face him. "Why not?"

"James, James, I'm only thinking of your well-being, looking out for my favorite best friend'sssss ssssson," He gently tussled Jim's hair with his claw.

Jim scoffed. "Dad said he's your ONLY friend,"

"All the more reasssson for me to protect you- even though your father doessssn't know much about my sssssocial-life. Dead Man's Minessss is NO place for a young lad- oops!" Scroop feigned shock, covering his mouth.

"_Dead_ Man's Mines? Cool!" Jim looked to the north at the gorge, not too far away.

"Me and my big mouth… well, you were bound to find out ssssooner or later. You're quite clever to get information out of me- though, I hope you're clever enough to avoid that deadly place," he put his arm around Jim. "Promissse me you won't ssset a foot near that gorge!"

Jim smirked, crossing his fingers behind his back. "No problem,"

"Good lad. Now, why don't you run along? I've got work to do around the dockssss," Scroop gave Jim a nudge toward the Benbow's front door, turning around to head back to the docks, but paused. "Oh, and Jim- thisss is our little ssssecret, got it?"

"Got it," Jim said, then ran inside.

Scroop smirked mischievously, and went on his way.

* * *

><p>AN: Next Scene- Jim has a little fun.


	3. Chapter 3: Jim's Plans

Here's the next chapter. Please enjoy!

0o0o0o0o0o0

Jim ran through the Benbow's dining area, up to a table where a small family sat and toward a girl with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. "Hey, Natalie!" he said as he stood next to her.

"Hi, Jim," Natalie said.

Jim lowered his voice to a whisper, "C'mon, I just heard of this great place,"

"Jim, I'm in the middle of eating here,"

"And it's time for you to eat, too," Sarah said, stepping behind Jim.

"Aw, Mom, can't I eat later?" Jim whined. His mother set a plate of food in front of him. Sighing, he pulled up a chair and scooped large bites onto his fork and stuffed them in his mouth, and turned to his mother (his mouth still full). "Ttthere, I athe. Nnnow ca' we go'h?"

Sarah gave him a stern look but smirk. "If you swallow, first."

Jim swallowed, and Natalie turned to him. "So, where are we going?" she asked. "It better not be anywhere dumb,"

"No, it's really cool, I swear-" Jim replied.

"So, where is this really cool place?" Sarah asked, slyly.

Jim thought quick. "Uh, it's by… Doc's place!"

"Doc's place? Honestly? What's so cool about HIS place? All he has is a bunch of books!" Natalie scoffed.

Jim whispered to her through clenched teeth. "I'll show you when we GET there,"

Natalie got the message. "Oh…" she turned to her mother. "Can I go, Mom?"

"Hmm, what do you think, Sarah?" Natalie's mother asked, smirking.

Sarah smirked. "Well…" she said, thoughtfully.

"Please?" Jim and Natalie both said, giving Sarah wide smiles and puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, can those eyes get any bigger?" she chuckled. "Alright, you can go,"

"YES!" Jim exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

"Alright!" Natalie said, following Jim toward the front door.

"…Just as long as Delbert is with you!" Sarah added.

Jim and Natalie both froze dead in their tracks. "Ah, man, not Doc…" Jim groaned.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Soon, Jim and Natalie were riding in a carriage next to Delbert, heading toward his place. "Step lively, Delila. The sooner we get to my house, the sooner Jim and Natalie can get back home," Delbert called to his slug-horse, then turned to Jim and Natalie. "I'm flattered that the two of you wanted to come over to my home for a visit- but, with all due respect, PLEASE don't touch anything without my permission."

Jim and Natalie only rolled their eyes. "So, where are we REALLY going?" Natalie asked Jim in a whisper.

"Dead Man's Mines," Jim whispered back.

"Wow!" Her voice came a little louder, and Jim shushed her, nodding toward Delbert. "Sorry… so, how are we going to ditch the Doc?"

"Don't worry, I thought of a back-up plan," Jim then started to whisper his plan to her, and she giggled a bit.

Delbert looked at the two kids, chuckling lightly. "Ah, look at you two. Little seeds of the planet blossoming in the galaxy. Your parents will be thrilled when you two start courting," he said.

Jim arched an eyebrow, looking at the astronomer. "Start _what_?"

"You know, taking a step out of friendship and into a more intimate partnership, which may become domesticated if all goes well,"

Natalie gave him a look. "Meaning…?"

"Someday you two will be dating! And possibly married, if you truly love each other…"

"Eeeww!" Jim and Natalie both commented, making faces.

"Doc, I can't marry Natalie! She's my friend, and there is NO way we'd fall in love!" Jim sneered.

"Yeah, it would be WAY too weird!" Natalie scoffed.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, children, but your minds will be changed once you hit puberty. You'll develop feelings for the opposite sex by then- and no doubt for each other, from how close YOU two are." Delbert said with a wink. "After all, Jim, every Spacer King needs a queen. It's quite traditional, dating back for light-years,"

Jim smirked. "Well, when I'M king, that'll be the first to go," he said.

"You can't control your natural changes, Jim. And when the time comes when you start liking girls, I'll be around to remind you of them."

"In that case, you're fired,"

"Ha! Nice try, but only the captain can do that,"

"But he's the future captain," Natalie pointed out.

"Yeah, so you have to do as I tell you," Jim added, giving Delbert a nudge.

"Not yet, I don't! By the way you're acting, you're shaping to be quite a petty king," Delbert huffed.

"Not the way I see it," Jim hopped off the carriage, followed by Natalie.

Delbert tugged on the reigns, making the carriage come to a halt and climbed off after them. "James Pleiades Hawkins, you get back here!"

The astronomer chased the kids around the carriage, Jim grabbing his solar-surfer off the back of it and hopping on, flying toward Delbert and starting his song.

Jim: **I'm gonna be a mighty spacer, who enemies can't elude! **_(flies close to Delbert, making the astronomer fall back and get stuck in a tube-like plant)_

Delbert: _(pulls himself out) _**Well, I've never met any spacer with such an attitude!**

Jim: _(climbs up tree) _**I'm gonna be the main event, that no captain was before! **_(climbs down and sneaks behind Delbert) _**I'm looking up, I'm looking down, I'm practicing with my sword! **_(grabs stick and pokes Delbert, scaring him up onto a tree branch)_

Delbert: **A small and rather, uninspiring thing! **_(branch breaks, and he falls into a mud-puddle)_

Jim: **Oh, I just can't wait to be captain! **

"You've got a long way to go, Jim, if you think!" Delbert retorted, catching up to Jim and Natalie. Natalie makes a face while he has his back to her.

Jim: **No one saying "Do this!" **

"Nobody said that!" Delbert turned around to Natalie, who stopped making a face before he saw her, though now Jim was making a face behind his back.

Natalie: **No one saying "Be there!"**

"No one-" Delbert turned around to Jim, who stopped. Now Natalie was back to making a face at him.

Jim: **No one saying "Stop that!"**

"What the-?" Delbert looked at both of them, as they were both making faces at him this time.

Jim and Natalie: **No one saying "See here!" **_(take off on Jim's solar-surfer)_

"NOW SEE HERE!" Delbert jumped back into the carriage, riding after them.

Jim: **Free to sail around all day!**

"That's definitely out!"

**Free to do it all my way!**

Delbert: _(rides up right next to Jim) _**I think it's time that you and I arranged a heart-to-heart! **_(crashes into something)_

Jim and Natalie hover down, seeing that Delbert crashed his carriage into a fruit cart, the astronomer covered in smashed fruit while Delila munched on a few purps.

Jim: **Captains don't take orders from canidids, on my part! **_(flies off with Natalie)_

Delbert: _(stands up, trudging after them) _**If this is where the Naval Service is heading, count me out! I'll transfer out of this galaxy, I wouldn't hang around! **_(slips on banana peel) _**Ack! **_(gets back up, running after the kids) _**Lord forbid all of this happens…**

Jim: **Oh, I just can't wait to be Captain!**

Jim and Natalie soar past a few other kids, who stand in line and raise some wooden toy-swords in salute. Delbert runs by, and the kids point their sword at him, making him flinch.

Jim and Natalie then solar-surf past a construction sight, where several water-wheel-like machines are grinding and dumping minerals to make cement. They solar-surf through the open spaces before they close on them, while Delbert runs past the sight, keeping an eye out for them. They then land in the park, hovering above a crowd of kids.

Jim: _(turns left) _**Everybody look left!**

"AUGH!" Delbert cries as the crowd of kids run to the left, trampling him.

_(turns right) _**Everybody look right!**

The kids run to the left, once again trampling Delbert.

**Everywhere you look, I'm standing in the spot-light!**

"Not… yet!" Delbert snapped, trying to shove past the crowd of kids, only to trip and get trampled again.

Kids: **Every spacer in the galaxy will be his friend!**

Jim whispers to a few girls, and they nod. They begin playing jump-rope as Delbert runs by, pulling it around his ankles, tripping him and tying him down, then begin to cover his face with make-up.

**He'll be the best spacer among all men!**

Jim and Natalie leap onto a trampoline, flying upward in the air.

**His story will never have an end!**

Jim and Kids: **Oh, I just can't wait to be Captain! **_(Jim and Natalie jump back on his solar-surfer and fly upward into the sky, a few other kids on solar-surfers following them) _**Oh I just can't wait to be Captain! **_(Jim begins to do aerial stunts on his board, the other kids trying to copy him) _**Oh, I just can't wa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ait… **_(the kids fail to copy him, crashing into each other or falling off)_** To be Capta-a-a-a-a-a-ain!**

The kids shot downward, either landing on the trampoline, zipping down the slides, or grabbing hold of some monkey-bars and acrobatically swinging toward the ground.

***THUD!***

…No matter how they got to the ground, they all managed to land on Delbert, piled on top of him, while Jim and Natalie managed to get away.

"I don't mean to be rude, kids, but… get OFF!" Delbert muffled from under the pile of kids. "Jim? Natalie!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: So sorry if my revision of the lyrics sucked :p And in case any of you are wondering, Natalie is my OC from my story "Treasure Planet: The Next Generation".

Next scene- Jim and Natalie get themselves mixed up with trouble.


	4. Chapter 4: When Pirates Attack

Here's a new chapter.

* * *

><p>Jim and Natalie hovered back onto the ground, laughing. "Ha ha, it worked!" Jim exclaimed.<p>

"Yeah, we lost him!" Natalie laughed.

"I'm a genius," Jim said proudly, carrying his solar-surfer as they walked.

Natalie gave him a cynical look. "Hey, 'genius', it was my idea to go through the park!"

"Yeah, but I pulled it off!"

"With ME!"

"Oh yeah?" Jim set his solar surfer to the ground and tackled Natalie, wrestling with her, but she managed to pin him on his back, her pocket-knife at her throat.

"Tackling, Jim? I would think a Spacer Prince would have a craftier method," She climbed off of him and began to walk.

"If it's craftier you want, it's craftier you'll get," Jim said quietly, then hopped on his solar-surfer and flew above her, grabbing her by the back of the shirt and shooting across the field.

In response, Natalie grabbed onto the board and swung her legs upward, knocking Jim off and pulling herself on (grabbing onto his jacket as she did) and started zipping around. Jim grabbed her arm and pulled himself back on the board, tickling her, causing them to swerve toward the ground, falling off the board and rolling down a slanting path, once again wrestling… Natalie once again pinning him.

"Craftier, but not brilliant," Natalie commented.

*CRASH!*

The two tweens jumped back when a large metallic cylinder hit the ground, causing dirt and debris to shoot into the air in a plume. When it cleared, they saw shadowed construction equipment and walked closer, heading up a path and looking over an over-turned machine… seeing the abandoned ruins known as Dead Man's Mines.

"Cooool…" They both said, looking at each other and grinning.

"It's really creepy," Natalie commented.

"Yeah… isn't it great?" Jim added.

"We could get in big trouble,"

Jim chuckled. "I know,"

They looked over, seeing a large tunnel which looked as if it used to be boarded shut, a worn out sign reading "Danger! Do Not Enter!" hanging above it, a few old, broken lanterns on the walls and rotting pieces of lumber on the ceiling to keep it from caving in, though it looked as if it was about to any minute.

"I wonder if there's any treasure hidden in these tunnels," Natalie whispered.

"There's only one way to find out," Jim replied, smirking as he headed toward the tunnel's entrance. "C'mon, lets check it out,"

"Not so fast!" Came a voice, and Delbert grabbed Jim by the back of the shirt, yanking him back. "The only 'checking out' you'll be doing is checking out of this hazardous gorge!"

"Aw, man…"

Delbert looked around, uneasily. "We're WAY out of town-"

Jim snickered. "Looks like ol' dog-face is scared-"

Delbert poked his finger into Jim's chest. "That's MR. 'dog-face' to you, young man! And right now, we're ALL in very real danger!"

Jim scoffed, walking toward the tunnel. "Danger? Ha! I laugh at the face of danger! HA HA HA HA!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" came echoing laughter from inside the tunnel… and it didn't belong to Jim. Startled, the young boy ran back over to his friends, just as 'four' gruesome aliens walked out of the shadows of the tunnel.

The first alien was female, basically a head on two legs. "Well, well, lads, what do we 'ave here?" she asked the other 'three'.

"I don't know, Birdbrain Mary." replied a snail-like alien (minus a shell) with tentacles, and he turned to the other 'two'. "What would you say, Onis?"

"Well, Meez-ter Turnbuckle, I'd say we've got ourselves a coople of trrespassers!" Onis, a short, multi-eyed alien replied with a high-pitched French accent. "Wouldn't you agree, Tone?"

"I'd believe it," the fourth alien replied… then suddenly his hair stood on its points and his head crawled off his body, which suddenly had eyes and a mouth! "How 'bout you, Alf?"

"No doubt," Alf, the 'body', replied.

"What do you weirdoes want?" Jim sneered.

"Oh, nothing… we were just about to have a little fun," Mr. Turnbuckle replied as the pirates circled around the trio. "You kids think you're brave enough to take us on?"

"You guys don't scare me,"

"T-They sure scare me…" Delbert said nervously, hoping to hint off Jim.

"But, Doc, you said pirates were nothing but brutish, ill-mannered, low-life scallywags-"

Delbert clapped his hand over Jim's mouth. "Ix-nay on the ally-wagscay…"

"Who are you call-eeng an ally-wagscay?" Mr. Onis snapped, pointing a knife at Delbert.

Delbert then began to shove Jim and Natalie, walking away from the pirates. "Oh my, look at the time! We REALLY must be going-" He was then cut-off by Tone and Alf.

"So soon? Aw, but we were about to play a game," Tone said.

"Yeah, maybe a game of… _Kid_-napping!" Alf joked.

"Or perhaps we could just sit and 'kid' around!" Mr. Turnbuckle added, snickering.

"Oh, I've got one!" Mr. Onis exclaimed. "We could play 'Operation' and pretend to be removing a kid-knee! Ha ha!" …None of the other pirates laughed.

"I'd say we t'ink of something less childish!" Birdbrain Mary sneered.

Alf's eyes widened. "Um… did we agree to play 'Catch the Kid'?" he asked.

"No, why?" Mr. Turnbuckle said, following Alf's gaze, his eyes widening when he saw Delbert, Jim, and Natalie making a run for it!

"In that case, CATCH THOSE KIDS!"

Drawing their swords, the pirates raced after the trio. Jim and Natalie ducked under and climbed over the machinery, Delbert trying to keep up with them- but a tentacle wrapped around his throat and pulled him back. "ACK!" he choked out a scream.

Jim and Natalie ducked behind a large grinding-machine, catching their breath. "I think we lost them…" Jim panted, then gasped. "Oh, crud… where's Doc?"

* * *

><p>Delbert, in the meantime, was behind stuffed into a cannon. "Sit back, folks, and watch the amazing display of the Canine Cannon!" Tone announced.<p>

"No no no NO! Not the Canine Canno-" Delbert begged, but Mr. Turnbuckle pulled the lever and blasted him into the sky. "-OOOOOOOOOOOoooooooonnnn….!"

The pirates laughed, until a voice cut them off: "Hey! Why don't you guys pick on someone else's species?" Jim shouted from the top of a dirt-pile.

"How about yours?" Birdbrain Mary asked.

Jim's eyes widened. "Oops…" He and Natalie then began to run, pursued by the pirates. They began climbing up the side of a mining machine, Jim ahead of Natalie.

"JIM!" Natalie cried. Jim looked over his shoulder, seeing his friend had lost her footing and was hanging on to the edge of the machine's groove, the pirates just inches from catching her! "AUGH!"

Jim slid down, grabbing Natalie's hand and pulling her back up. Mr. Turnbuckle reached for him, but Jim swung his knife, giving the pirate a cut on his cheek, and he hastily followed Natalie. They saw a cylinder on the other side of the machine and leaped into it, sliding down and into a pile of crushed rocks, then ran into a tunnel, only to come to a dead end. They turned around to double-back and find another way out, but the pirates blocked their entrance.

"Play-time's over, kids," Mr. Turnbuckle sneered as the pirates held up their swords.

Jim gulped, but stepped in front of Natalie, holding up his toy dart-gun. "Stop! One more step, a-and I'll shoot!" he snapped, trying to hide his fear.

The pirates only laughed. "Fine. Go ahead and shoot!" Tone teased.

*ZAP!*

A laser-blast shot by Tone's face, and suddenly Leland leaped down, his laser-pistol in hand, Mr. Arrow and Delbert at his side, along with a few other spacers, and they cornered the pirates, who started stammering alibis. "SILENCE!" Leland shouted, and the pirates shut up.

"W-We weren't going to hurt them, honest!" Mr. Onis stammered.

"Y-Yeah, we were just uh… playing 'Pirates'!" Alf added, only to get smacked upside the head (or 'back') by Tone.

"If you EVER come near my son again-!" Leland began to threaten.

"Oh, that was YOUR son?" Birdbrain Mary gasped. "I-I didn't know dat! Did you boys know dat?"

"I didn't know, did you know?" Mr. Turnbuckle asked the other three. Onis and Tone shook their heads.

"I knew it," Alf said.

Leland shot at them, nearly blasting their heads off (which is bad, since a couple of them are basically just heads). "Eh heh… toodles!" Mr. Onis squeaked, and the pirates took off out of the tunnel.

"After them!" Leland ordered his men. The spacers took off after the pirates, Mr. Arrow and Delbert the only ones who stayed behind. Delbert stepped beside Leland, grinning with approval… though his grin faded when Leland gave him a stern glance.

Jim cautiously stepped up to his father. "Dad, I-" he began.

Leland gave him a sharp glance. "You deliberately disobeyed me!"

The young boy bit his bottom lip, wincing. "Dad… I'm sorry!"

"Lets go home." With that, they started walking out of the tunnels.

Jim followed his father, his head down. Natalie walked at his side. "I thought you were pretty brave," she whispered to him, but her statement didn't seem to lift his spirits.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain manticore stood on the rafters of the tunnel, glowering down at them.

* * *

><p>AN: Out of one pickle and into another… though, I can't tell which would be worse- having to deal with pirates or an angry father. (good luck, Jim).


	5. Chapter 5: Scroop's Plans

Sorry for the slow update, been busy. Here's the next chapter!

* * *

><p>Everyone walked toward the Benbow in silence. Natalie remained by Jim's side as he carried his solar-surfer, hanging his head low. Mr. Arrow and Delbert walked beside them, the astronomer giving them a look of concern while the second mate looked ahead at Leland, wondering what his captain was going to do about this situation.<p>

"Doc, Arrow!" Leland called to them.

Delbert and Mr. Arrow looked at each other, then approached their captain. "Yes, sir?" Mr. Arrow responded first.

"Escort Natalie back to her parent's ship. I'd like to have a word alone with my son…"

As he said it, Jim cringed and ducked behind his solar-surfer.

"Very well. Come along, Natalie," Mr. Arrow said, guiding Natalie down the path.

Delbert walked by Jim. "Jim…" he said, then put both hands on his shoulders, heaving a great sigh. "Good luck," With that, he followed Mr. Arrow and Natalie.

Jim watched his friend walk off, seeing that she looked back at him with concern then looked onward. He wished she didn't have to go… he wanted someone by his side to aid him in this situation… he didn't want to be alone with his father at this moment.

"JIM!" Leland called, standing at the top of the hill now, near the edge of the cliffs.

Jim gulped, and began walking up the hill. On the way up, his foot sank lower into the ground, and he looked down to see he was standing in one of his father's footprints. As he stared at it, he realized how small his foot was compared to his father's size, and wondered how he could be able to follow in his footsteps… especially after today. He sighed and continued up the hill, standing beside his father, hanging his head low.

Leland stared ahead for a moment, then sighed and turned to his son. "Jim, I'm very disappointed in you."

"I know…" Jim sighed.

"You could've been killed! You deliberately disobeyed me. And what's worse, you put Natalie in danger!"

Jim tried to hold back a sob. "I was just trying to be brave like you!"

"I'm only brave when I HAVE to be. Jim, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."

"But you're not scared of anything,"

"I was today…" Leland knelt down and put a hand on Jim's shoulder. "I thought I might lose you."

"Oh… I guess even kings get scared, huh?" a small smile reappeared on Jim's face, widening when his father was starting to smile as he nodded. Jim then smirked, then whispered. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I think those pirates were even more scared,"

Leland chuckled. "'Cause no one messes with your dad…" On that note, he trapped Jim in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Hey! Ack! Dad! Cut it out!" Jim squirmed out of his father's grip and tried to swipe at him, but his father ducked. Leland ran off laughing, Jim at his heels to get him back, and he tackled his father, wrestling with him a bit until he had him pinned on his stomach. Both of them calmed down, chuckling. "Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"We're pals, right?"

Leland chuckled. "Right."

"And we'll always be together, right?"

Leland sighed and sat up, Jim sliding off his back and sitting next to him. "Jim, let me tell you something that my father told me. Look at the stars," both of them looked up at the starry skies. "The great spacers of the past look down at us from those stars."

Jim stared up at the galaxy, a bit amazed. "Really?"

"Yes. Whenever you feel alone, just remember that those spacers are there to guide you… and so will I."

Leland and Jim looked up at the stars a while longer until the young tween started to dose off. Leland scooped his son up in his arms and carried him back to the Benbow, where he lied him in bed and tucked him in, then left the room. Once he shut the door, Jim opened his eyes and looked back out his window at the stars, solemnly thinking about what his father had told him this evening.

* * *

><p>Out in the galaxy, just a couple intergalactic miles from Montressor, a run-down pirate-ship hovered through the foggy skies. In the galley of that ship sat the five familiar pirates that tried to attack Jim. "Stupid spacers…" Mr. Turnbuckle was muttering, then shoved Alf, almost knocking Tone off the top of him. "It's YOUR fault we failed!"<p>

"OUR fault?" Alf snapped. "YOU'RE the one who let the little pip-squeak take a swipe at your face!"

"Vell, YOU two eediots kept crrackeeng jokes and let them rrun off!" Mr. Onis snapped.

"Excuse ME, half-pint, but I remember YOU were part of the joking!" Tone sneered.

"YOU both started it, though! …And who are you calleeng half-pint, half-pint?"

"YOU, you multi-eyed brain-lacking twit!" With that, Tone and Mr. Onis got into a brawl.

"Will ya two scurvy-scums knock it off?" Birdbrain Mary snapped, smacking Tone upside the head, forcing him and Onis to cease their fight. "No wonder we hardly escape t'ose spacers!"

"Man, I HATE spacers!" Alf muttered. "They think that just because they've never raided a ship, they think they're better than us!"

"Yeah, and they're so uptight!" Tone added.

"And pushy!" Mr. Onis put in.

"And, boy, are they…" Mr. Turnbuckle began.

"Uuuuugly!" The rest of the pirates finished, and they all joined in with a laugh.

"A little sssssstereotypic, don't you think?" A sinister voice sneered, and the pirates looked up, seeing Scroop standing at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, we didn't mean ALL spacers!" Mr. Turnbuckle said.

"Yeah, you're better than the rest of them, Scroop!" Alf said. "You're a great leader!"

"You're so smart…" Mr. Onis added.

"And hansom…" Birdbrain Mary said.

"And generous!" Tone exclaimed.

"Hmm, I'm not feeling 'generous' at the moment," Scroop muttered, holding up a small sack of coins. The pirates stood up, practically drooling at the valuable bag. "After all, you DIDN'T sssucceed in your tasssk to capture that little whelp. Oh well," he tossed the bag in front of the pirates, watching as they fought over it.

"Yeah, but ye gotta give us a break!" Birdbrain Mary called from the brawl. "Dat Leland is a strong one,"

"Yeah, what do you want us to do? Kill Leland?" Mr. Turnbuckle scoffed, tugging on the bag.

Scroop smirked. "Exactly." he replied.

The pirates paused, looking up at their leader in confusion. "Huh?" they all said.

Scroop skittered through the galley, passing through the stove as smoke began to rise from the cauldron on it. Mr. Onis stands by it, gathering up spare coins that fell out of the bag.

Scroop: **I know your paths of attention, are as wired as a robot's lost mind. But as thick as you are, pay attention! **_(smacks coins out of Onis' hands, making him stand straight and salute) _**My words are a matter of pride. **_(waves hand in front of Onis' face) _**I can tell from your vacant expressions, the lights aren't all on, understand?**

Mr. Turnbuckle and Birdbrain Mary snicker as Mr. Onis remains still, trembling with nervousness.

**But we're talking captains and successions **_(skitters across ceiling and lands in front of Mary and Turnbuckle, making them both fall back into barrels) _**Even you can't be caught unawares!**

**So be prepared for the chance of a lifetime. Be prepared for sensational news… A shiny new era, is tip-toeing nearer**

Tone: **And where do we feature?**

Scroop: (_picks Tone up by the 'head', shoving him on top of Alf) _**Just listen to teacher! I know it sounds sordid, but you'll be rewarded, when at last I am giving my dues… And injustice deliciously squared- be prepared!**

Scroop walked toward the galley stairs, the pirates following him. "Yeah, prepared! We'll be prepared!" Alf exclaimed, then became thoughtful. "What are we preparing for, exactly?"

"For the death of Leland Hawkinssss!" Scroop replied, rolling his eyes.

"Why, eez he seek?" Mr. Onis asked, and Scroop gripped him by the stalks of his eyes.

"No, you idiotsss, we're going to kill him! And Jim too," he dropped Onis and began walking up the stairs.

"Yes! No more Spacer Kings to lock us up!" Tone cheered.

"No king! No king! No king!" The rest of the pirates began to chant delightfully.

"Imbecilesss! There will BE a king!" Scroop snapped back at them, climbing up the mast.

"But, ye said that-" Birdbrain Mary began.

"I'LL be the SSSpacer King! SSStick with me, and you can raid and pillage everywhere you want! You'll never have to worry about being captured again!"

"Yay!/Alright!/Hail Scroop!/Long live the king!" the pirates all cheered at once, and a few other pirates on the ship joined with them.

"Long live the king! Long live the king!" Every pirate on the ship cheered as they assembled on deck.

Pirates: **It's great that we'll soon be connected, to a captain who'll be all-time adored…**

Scroop: **Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected **_(makes a slit-gesture across his throat) _**To take certain duties on board. **_(walks across branching mast) _**The future is littered with prizes, and though I'm the main addressee… The point I must emphasize is- **_(grabs a pirate by the throat) _**YOU WON'T GET ANYWHERE WITHOUT ME! **_(throws pirate off the mast, continues to climb higher) _

**So prepare for the crime of the century! Prepare for the murkiest skies!**

Pirates: **(Skies, Skies, Skies!)**

Scroop: **Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning, decades of denial is simply why I'll **_(grabs rope, swings up the mast) _**Be king undisputed- respected, saluted, and seen for the captain I am! Yes my weapons and ambitions are bared- be prepared!**

Pirates: **Yes our weapons and ambitions are bared-**

Scroop and Pirates: **Be prepared!**

Scroop stood at the top of the crow's nest, cackling while all the pirates cheered him on.

Soon, their era of rule would start… as soon as they got Leland and Jim out of the picture.

* * *

><p>AN: Yeah, I don't know if I should write the next chapter and let Scroop have his way… but I just can't leave the story hanging here, either… *sigh* I despise choiceless choices…


	6. Chapter 6: Stormy Skies

Here's a new chapter!

0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day, Scroop and Jim sailed out into an asteroid field, Jim on his solar-surfer and Scroop in a long-boat. "Thanks for taking me out, Scroop," Jim said, then arched an eyebrow. "But, why did you bring me to an asteroid field?"

"Oh, it's part of sssome sssurprise your dad hasss planned," Scroop replied.

Jim's eyes widened. "Really? What is it?"

"I can't tell you, otherwissse it wouldn't be a sssurprise, would it?"

"What if I acted surprised, then?"

"You're a crafty lad, aren't you? I guessss that'sssss how you got into trouble yesssterday,"

Jim's smile fell. "You know about that?"

"Jim, EVERYONE knowssss about it,"

Jim cringed in embarrassment. "Aw, man… everyone?"

"Don't worry about it. Now, wait here, I'm going to go find your dad," Scroop began to hover off in the longboat. Jim hopped on his solar-surfer and flew beside him.

"Can I come?"

"NO! …I mean, no, no, you have to wait here. Otherwisse you'll ssspoil the big sssurprise. Your father hass been planning thisss for a long time. It'ssss going to be a ssspecialy father-ssson… thing." he began to fly off. "Why don't you wait here and play with that little toy gun of yoursss?"

Jim sneered and sat down on an asteroid, then lightened up. "Hey, Scroop!"

Scroop paused, growing a tad irritated. "What?"

"Will I like the surprise?"

Scroop smirked. "Jim, it'sss to DIE for," with that, he shot off, leaving Jim alone on the asteroid.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Somewhere in the galaxy, not too far from the asteroid field, the pirates sat in four different long-boats, watching as a group of space-whales hovered around. "Man, where's Scroop? By the time he gets here, those whales are gonna be on the other side of the galaxy!" Mr. Turbuckle muttered. "I say we start the plan now!"

"Not yet, you blaggard idiot!" Birdbrain Mary snapped.

"Can't we chase one of the little ones?" Alf asked.

"No. We wait for deh signal from Scroop,"

The pirates looked over, seeing Scroop fly by in a longboat. He raised the sail once-twice-three times, then shot off. "There's the signal," Mr. Onis said.

"Lets go,"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Jim waited for what seemed like hours, sitting on the asteroid, spinning his dart-gun in his hand. "Little toy… pffft." he sneered. Loading a dart into the gun, he looked around the meteor, seeing a lizardian rat sitting on a rock. He shot a dart, but it veered to the left, missing the creature. He shot again, missing it by a couple inches. "Aw, c'mon!" he shot again. His aim was good this time, but the lizardian rat dodged, and the dart shot into space.

Jim sighed, watching his dart drift into the stars… but in the distance, he saw a small shape flying toward him.

The shape started to grow bigger…

And bigger…

And bigger… with several more behind it!

Jim's eyes widened in horror as the school of space-whales flew toward him in a frenzy, and he quickly jumped onto his solar-surfer and began to fly off, trying to dodge the space-whales, but soon they surrounded him. He tried to pass the leader, but only got lost. One whale's fin knocked him off his board and he landed on the back of another, trapped in the swarm.

Unbeknownst to Jim, the pirates were flying on the outside of the school, shooting off their lasers and disrupting the large creatures, causing them to panic. They forced the whales to move toward a section of the galaxy where the sky was turning orange.

"Turn back! Turn back!" Mr. Onis cried, and the pirates turned around.

There was no way they were going to head into a supernova.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Leland, Delbert, and Arrow stood by the helm, the astronomer was looking through a spyglass. "Oh, Leland, take a look at this. A school of Orcus Galacticus are swarming near the Lagoon Nebula," he said.

"Odd, that's not part of their migration pattern…" Mr. Arrow commented.

Scroop then flew up in his longboat by the side of the ship, a frantic expression on his face. "Leland! Come quick! There'sss a frenzy near the asssteroid field… Jim is down there!" he stammered.

"JIM!" Leland cried, then took over the helm. "Mr. Arrow! All hands to stations! My son is in trouble!"

"All hands to stations!" Mr. Arrow called across the deck, and the rest of the crew leaped into action.

"Scroop, you and Mr. Arrow try to find Jim!"

"Yess ssir!" Scroop said. Mr. Arrow climbed into the longboat with him and they shot off.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Jim in the meantime was trying to get out of the swarm. Seeing his solar-surfer hovering by, he quickly grabbed it and started to fly off, just as the whales began to scatter. "That's not good…" Jim gulped, referring to the whale's actions. A chunk of rock shot by him just then, and he looked over, his eyes widening.

A large star had gone supernova, and it was heading toward him! He had the sail of his board pop up and tried to get as far away from the star as possible.

Not too far off, Scroop and Mr. Arrow flew by. "Good heavens… it's a supernova!" Mr. Arrow gasped. "And Jim's caught in the middle of it!"

Jim looked over, seeing them. "Guys! Help me!" he cried, barely dodging another chunk of rock.

"Your father's on his way! Don't worry!" Mr. Arrow called to him.

"Follow uss!" Scroop added.

Jim followed them, riding next to the longboat, but suddenly he started to pull back. "What the…?" he gasped, then looked behind him. "GUYS!"

Mr. Arrow and Scroop looked behind them, and their eyes widened in shock. The star was being pulled back into a black hole. "We've got to get to the ship!" Mr. Arrow cried.

"You THINK?" Scroop snapped.

"It's pulling me in- AUGH!" Jim yelled, flying back.

A pair of hands grabbed him, and he saw Leland, dangling from his lifeline. "Hold on, Jim!" he cried, holding his son tight.

A couple ropes were tossed to Mr. Arrow and Scroop, and they secured them around their waists, trying to pull the longboat toward the ship… which, ironically, was being pulled towards them. A wave blasted out of the blackhole, giving them a thrust and having them hit the side of the boat. Without hesitation, they climbed on board.

"Release the sails!" Mr. Arrow ordered once he was on deck. "Hopefully, these waves can give us a ride out of this storm!" The crew obeyed, rushing to their job.

"Here, take Jim!" Leland called to Delbert, clinging on to the railing of the ship and pulling Jim up. Delbert grabbed Jim and pulled him on board and began to pull Leland up, but a second wave hit the ship, causing the Spacer King to lose his grip and fall.

"DAD!" Jim cried, looking over the edge for his dad. Unable to spot him, he climbed up the shrouds to get a better view, scanning the stormy skies.

To his relief, he saw his father swing himself to the side of the ship, slowly climbing up. He saw a lone rope hanging on one of the branching masts, and began to climb toward it, planning on tossing it down and helping pull his father up.

"Oh, this is terrible! We've got to do something!" Delbert stammered, frantic. "I know! I'll radio for help! I'll-"

*KONK!*

Scroop hit Delbert over the head with a bucket, knocking him out. He looked over, seeing Mr. Arrow by the edge, pulling Leland's lifeline to help him up. The manticore snuck over and- making sure no one was watching- cut Mr. Arrow's lifeline and shoved him over the edge!

"Mr. Arrow!" Leland cried, watching his second-mate fall over the edge. Quickly as he could, he shot his hand out and grabbed him by the jacket, struggling to climb up the rope with only one hand. He looked up, seeing Scroop by the edge, watching him. "Scroop! Please… help me!"

Scroop only glowered at him, then reached over and grabbed him by the throat, staring hatefully into his eyes. "Long live the king…" he said, then cut his lifeline and threw Leland into the storm.

"AAAAAUUUUUGH!" Leland screamed as the last wave hit.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jim cried, watching his father's form become enveloped in the last wave, while the ship was only blown away from the black hole.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: …I can't write any more, so I'm stopping here. I'll try to find the courage to write the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7: A Death in the Family

I have write-fever… so here's a new chapter. Warning: it includes sadness : (

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The crew managed to get out of the storm, and once the skies were clear they set off in search for Leland and Mr. Arrow's bodies. They found Arrow's body lodged in a crater, the second-mate unfortunately deceased, a tear on the back of his jacket. They continued to scout the area, looking for a trace of their dear Spacer King, but after hours of searching, they concluded that he was sucked into the black hole.

But Jim refused to believe that fact and, despite the rest of the crew's orders, took off in the spare longboat in search of his father, searching near the asteroid field. "Dad!" he called, sailing around the meteors, his voice echoing. "Dad! …Dad?" he saw a shadow, but it only turned out to be a small space-whale flying by, in search for it's mother. It flew by a lone asteroid… where Jim saw a familiar shape. "Dad!"

It was Leland alright. His clothes were torn and there were a few scrapes on his face, and in his hand he clutched a torn piece of Mr. Arrow's shirt. Jim hovered the longboat above the meteor and leaped out, running toward his father. To his grief, his father wasn't moving… wasn't breathing…

"Dad… wake up," he shook his father's shoulder, then grabbed his arms trying to pull him up, but his weight only caused him to fall back on the ground. "Dad, please… we gotta go home…" tears welled up in his eyes as he tugged on his father's arm once more. He then stood up, looking around. "HELP! Somebody! Anybody!" his voice only echoed, reminding him that he was alone, and he began to sob. "Help…"

Jim walked back over to his father's body and wrapped his arms around his neck, hugging him and burying his face in his hair. He wished it was all a nightmare, that as soon as he opened his eyes he'd find himself in bed, then go downstairs where his father would be having breakfast with his mother, and he'd run up to him, leap into his father's arms, hug him as he tussled his hair, and… and…

Out from behind a rock, Scroop emerged, stepping forward. Jim looked up at him with wide eyes. "James… what have you done?" Scroop asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Jim released his father and stood up. "It's not my fault! I-I don't know what happened… It was an accident…" he sobbed, approaching Scroop and clutching his waist, crying into his abdomen.

"Of courssse, of courssse, you didn't mean for thisss to happen…" Scroop patted Jim on the back, his expression remaining solemn. "But, the king is dead," Jim looked up at him with watery eyes, and the manticore let out a gasp. "What do you sssupposse your mother would sssay? And then there'sss the crew…"

Jim sniffled. "W-What are we going to do?"

Scroop looked into his eyes. "Run. Run away, Jim Hawkinss, and never return…"

Jim backed away from him, stunned. How would running away solve anything? What good would it do? …He looked back at his father. _If you didn't get into trouble, this never would have happened, _a voice inside his head told him. He gave Scroop one last glance, then climbed back into the longboat and shot off.

Behind Scroop, a group of pirates in four longboats hovered nearby, smirking. "Kill him," Scroop ordered.

On that command, the pirates shot off, cackling as they chased Jim through the asteroid field. Jim looked behind him, gasping, then pulled the throttle and gained speed, zipping around asteroids, trying to dodge them, but they remained on his tail. Birdbrain Mary managed to grab the back of his jacket, but he tore himself out of it and 'rolled' the longboat to the left, managing to put some distance between him and the pirates.

Looking ahead, he saw a comet shooting by, and he flew into the icy tail of it, doing barrel-rolls and zigzags, the pirates following him, trying to keep up. He then shot out of the tail of the comet, crashing into a meteor, the longboat breaking apart… and the pirates were almost out of the comet's tail! Thinking fast, Jim grabbed the engine of the longboat and sail, crafting them onto a metal shrapnel that remained of the longboat, making a make-shift solar-surfer, and began to fly off.

The pirates shot out of the tail of the comet… right toward the same meteor! "WHOA!" Tone cried, and he and Alf pulled the brake on their longboat, the bough of it just a mere inch from the asteroid. "Whew…"

"LOOK OUT!" Came Onis' voice…

*CRASH!*

*BAM!*

*CRUNCH!*

Mr. Turnbuckle and Mr. Onis' longboats failed to stop, and they both crashed right behind Tone and Alf's longboat, smashing themselves into the asteroid. Birdbrain Mary rolled her eyes at the sight, then hovered over. The male-pirates scraped themselves off the asteroid and into her longboat. "Nice stop, idiots… I'm probably paralyzed!" Alf sneered.

"All except your mouth…" Mr. Turnbuckle replied.

Birdbrain Mary looked over, seeing Jim flying off in the distance. "Stop fooling around, ya blokes! He's getting away!" she snapped.

"Then rev this thing up and lets to get him, then!" Tone sneered.

"There eez NO WAY I'm driveeng in a longboat with YOU ingrates again!" Mr. Onis snapped, rubbing a bump on his head.

"Ah, the kid's as good as dead on his own, anyway," Mr. Turnbuckle scoffed. "That pathetic vessel he crafted will run out of energy soon, and he'll be stranded out in the universe,"

"Plus, if he manages to make it back, we'll kill him," Birdbrain Mary agreed.

"Yeah! DID YOU HEAR THAT, LAD?" Alf shouted. "IF YOU EVER COME BACK, WE'LL KILL YA!"

The pirate's statement echoed through the skies, and Jim only winced and revved up the engine, forcing his surfer to go faster.

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The next evening, every spacer gathered around the docks, as Scroop gave a eulogy. In his claws, he held Jim's jacket (which Mary managed to hang on to and tear to shreds), as a look of feigned depression spread across his face. "It wasss not enough that Leland and Mr. Arrow had to leave usss… but to find that Jim had been attacked and killed before hisss time isss too much to bare," he said, bowing his head.

In the crowd, Sarah sobbed uncontrollably. Natalie stood behind her, weeping as well for the loss of her best friend, gripping the widow's hand and burying her face in her arm.

"But, with death comesss a new life, and with a new life comesss a new era," as he said this, ships with jolly-rogers docked in the harbor, and shadowed figures stepped behind Scroop. Everyone gasped, but the manticore showed no fear. "And our new era beginsss now- in which ssssspacer and pirate work together, to create a vassst and gloriousssss future!" Scroop walked among the pirates, as they walked and mingled into the crowd of spacers and civilians.

Standing on her own ship, watching from above, Amelia sighed and shook her head. "This is not going to end well," she said.

She walked back into her stateroom, where Morph waited for her, chattering with concern. He turned into a mini-Jim, looking at her curiously.

Amelia bit her bottom lip, shaking her head. "I'm afraid… our young prince is no more, Morph," she walked over to the window, looking out at the stars. "Oh, Jim… your time came too soon,"

"Too soon…" Morph repeated sadly, returning to his original shape and sitting on Amelia's shoulder, wincing.

Without Jim, their galaxy would surely crumble under Scroop's reign.

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A/N: No doubt about that. Next Chapter- Is Jim really gone for good?


	8. Chapter 8: No More Worries

First of all, HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!

Second, enjoy this next chapter.

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><p>Jim didn't know where he was going… he just knew he had to get as far away from Montressor- let alone his own galaxy- as he possibly could. His hand-crafted solar-surfer had lost energy, and he found himself plummeting down to…<p>

To where?

He didn't know, and he didn't care. After all the trouble he had caused, he didn't care what would happen to him. He let his body relax as he fell through the cloudy atmosphere, crashing through a thick jungle, and finally hitting the ground in a clearing, where he now lay unconscious.

Above in the trees, a few crow-rats studied the young boy. When he didn't move, they began to circle him, landing and preparing to nibble on his motionless body.

*POW!*

A plasma-blast shot by and the crow-rats scattered. Out of the clearing stepped a scrawny, bronze robot with wires sticking out the back of his head and green eyes. "Wow, Silver! Look at 'em fly!" the robot cried, running and shooing away any other rodent birds that stuck around.

"Aye, t'ere's nothing like scarin' a few pests tah lift deh spirits," Silver said, stepping next to the robot. He was an ursid wearing a triangular hat, large black coat over a white shirt and red-and-blue striped pants, boots… and strangely had a robotic right eye, arm, and leg. His arm was a cannon, but he then switched it to a robotic hand. He swatted away a remaining crow rat. "Beat it, ya blasted vermin!"

The robot noticed Jim and knelt next to him. "H-Hey, Silver, you'd better take a look at this. I think it's still alive!"

"Alright, BEN, lets 'ave a look," Silver knelt down and turned Jim on his back. "Well, what do ya know? It's a boy!"

BEN gasped, then began shaking Silver's organic hand. "Congratulations, Silver! You must be so proud!"

Silver pulled his hand back, sneering. "He's not mine, ya scatterbrained twit! Come tah think of it…" he saw a gold chain around Jim's neck and pulled out a medallion- the one Amelia had given to him at birth. It had his name engraved in the back and an imprint of his home planet on the front. "T'is lad happens tah come from deh other side o' deh universe! An' from deh look of t'is medallion around his neck, he must come from some sort of upper-class family,"

BEN wasn't paying much attention. "Aw, would you just look at him? He's so cute and all alone!" he turned to Silver, excitedly. "Can we keep him?"

"Weren't ya listening, ya mind-warped nimrod? Deh lad's already GOT a family, in another galaxy! Deh boy probably ran away from home,"

"Maybe he could stick around with us!"

Silver gave BEN a look. "BEN, this lad's got a mother who's probably worried sick about him! I'd say we'd better take him back."

"Oh, fine… You know, it's pretty nice of you, Silver. Being a pirate and fugitive from the law for years, you're willing to risk getting caught and thrown to the mercy of the gallows to return a young boy to his family, even though the parents may accuse you of kidnapping him- I mean, that's what people suspect first-hand at the sight of a pirate who has a kid with him- and could possibly land you in a beheading. …You're such a great guy!"

Silver paused, thinking about what BEN said. "Y'know, on second t'ought, maybe we should let deh boy EXPLAIN why he's runnin' away first. Maybe his parent's were too harsh tah him, or something like dat."

"Oh… I never thought of that."

"Dat's because ye got yer mind yanked out, leavin' ME tah be deh brains of deh outfit," Silver scooped Jim up in his arms and began to walk off. "Now, lets get deh lad outta deh heat an' into some shade. C'mon,"

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><p>BEN and Silver took Jim up to a cave, where they lied him down, just as he began to regain consciousness. "Ugh… where am I? What happened?" he asked, sitting up and turning to BEN and Silver. "And who are you guys?"<p>

"You're on a deserted planet, and you were unconscious, and I'm BEN!" BEN answered in that order, while shaking Jim's hand. "Man, are WE glad you're okay! We heard a crash in the distance, and saw a bunch of crow-rats gathering around something, and we scared them off- we get kicks out of scaring them- and we found you and at first we thought you were dead but we saw that you were still breathing and we decided tommph!" …Silver had shoved a sock in BEN's mouth to cease his rambling.

"Pardon BEN, lad. He tends tah forget when tah shut his yap," Silver said. "Deh name's Silver- I'm deh one who saved ya."

"Hey!"

Silver rolled his eyes. "An' BEN helped… a little."

Jim got up and started to walk out of the cave. "Thanks for your help…" he sighed, sadly.

"H-Hey, where are you going?" BEN asked him.

"Nowhere special,"

Silver looked around. "I believe you're already t'ere, boy." he said, but Jim kept walking, head hanging low. The cyborg nudged the robot. "He looks kinda blue, don't ye t'ink?"

"I don't know… I'd say his skin-tone is more fair, though I think he's been out in the sun too long-" BEN began.

"No, I mean he's depressed,"

"Oh… yeah, that too."

They caught up to Jim, walking by his side. "Oy, lad, what's eatin' ya?"

BEN studied Jim. "Nothing's eating him, Silver. Who'd eat a human, anyway? Okay, so maybe there's a few carnivores on the planet, then there's a chance of a cannibal coming around-" Silver gave the robot a look, and he quieted, clearing his throat. "So, um… where are you from, kid?"

"It doesn't matter, I can't go back," Jim replied, sadly.

"Ah, don't worry, lad… We can't go back tah deh places we've been tah, either." Silver said.

"So what did YOU do?" BEN asked, eagerly.

"Something terrible, but I don't want to talk about it," Jim said.

"Ah. Well, I guess if it's not worth talking about, it's not worth hearing. I remember-"

"BEN…" Silver said in a warning tone, then turned to Jim. "Anything we could do, lad?"

"Not if you can change the past," Jim said.

"Don't worry, kid. It's like what my buddy Silver always tells me: 'If it's fragile, don't touch it'!" BEN said, then paused. "Whoops, wrong quote. What I meant was: 'If you make a mess, it had better be clean before I get back!' …Wait, that's not it, either…"

"Ah, can it, BEN, before ya short-circuit what's left o' yer brain!" Silver snapped, then turned to Jim. "I believe deh right sayin' would be: 'Ya gotta put yer past behind ya.' Bad t'ings happen, an' there's nothing ye can do about it, right?"

"Right," Jim replied.

"Wrong!" Silver put an arm around Jim. "When deh universe turns its back on ya, ye turn yer back on deh universe!"

Jim shook his head. "That's not what I was taught,"

"T'en I t'ink it's time fer a new lesson. Repeat after me, lad: 'Hakuna Matata'."

Jim arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Hakuna Matata. It means no worries!" BEN replied.

Silver: **Hakuna Matata… what a wonderful phrase,**

BEN: **Hakuna Matata… ain't no passing craze!**

Silver: **It means no worries, fer deh rest of yer days…**

Silver and BEN guided Jim back to the cave, lying him down in a reclining chair. Silver began to fan him with an old charter map while BEN held up a platter full of cups of oil, which Jim declined.

Silver and BEN: **It's our problem-free… philosophy…**

Silver: **Hakuna Matata…**

"Hakuna Matata?" Jim asked, not understanding.

"Yeah, it's our motto!" BEN replied, then became thoughtful. "What's a motto again?"

"I don't know, what's a-motto with ya?" Silver replied, throwing in a chuckle.

BEN just looked at him. "I don't get it,"

Silver turned to Jim. "Trust me, lad, those two words will solve all yer problems. Take BEN fer example. Why…"

Silver: **When he was a young robot…**

BEN: _(in an opera-voice) _**When I was a young ro-boooOOOOTTT!**

Silver rubbed his good-ear. "Very nice," he said sarcastically.

"Thanks!" BEN replied.

Silver: **He lost his memory pulled out, and his mind lost its appeal. He could clear a whole ship while talking during a meal…**

A flashback shows BEN's memory-circuit being ripped out of his head by a pirate, and he gets thrown into the galley, where he begins talking to the rest of the crew.

BEN: **I have a sensitive circuit, though my brain's a bit thick…**

The crew cover their ears, then run out of the galley… and jump off the ship.

**And it hurt, that my crewmates never stayed on the ship…**

"And OH THE SHAME!" BEN cried once the flashback was over.

"He _was_ ashamed," Silver said.

"Thought about changing my name!"

"Their reactions would still be the same,"

"And then I got down-hearted…"

"And then he came across here,"

"Every time I opened my mouth my crewmates parted and-"

Silver clapped his cyborg hand over BEN's mouth. "BEN! You're rambling again,"

"Oops. Sorry,"

Jim only arched an eyebrow.

Silver and BEN: _(both of them being to repair a busted longboat) _**Hakuna matata, such a wonderful phrase. **_(They finish and Silver begins to fly the boat, BEN grabbing on to a rope that's hanging over the edge and soaring with it, Jim watching them with awe) _**Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze…**

Jim: **It means no worries, for the rest of your days!**

"Aye, sing it lad!" Silver exclaimed, hovering down and pulling Jim into the boat.

Silver and Jim: **It's our worry free…**

BEN: _(swings up and crashes onto the longboat) _**Philosophy…**

Silver, BEN, and Jim: **Hakuna Matata.**

Silver and BEN flew Jim toward a portal, where a holographic globe stood in front of it. "T'is portal can take us anywhere ye want tah go, lad. BEN an' I normally use it tah travel when we want tah git away, though we never forget tah come back," the cyborg said.

"Cool," Jim said, pushing a couple buttons.

"There's one button we like to push… but I can't remember which one it is…" BEN said, gripping his head. "Ah, I wish I could remember!"

Jim pushed a button that looked just like the planet they were on, and the portal switched to a room full of treasure. "Whoa… where'd all this treasure come from?" he gasped.

"Ah, it's Captain Flint's legendary loot o' a thousand worlds. Dat's why we call t'is place 'Treasure Planet'," Silver replied, then gave Jim a nudge. "Go on, lad, ye can go in."

"I just wish I could remember that one place we like to go… full of gold and treasure… oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!" BEN cried, then looked over at the portal. "Oh, wait, there it is!"

The trio walked into the treasure room. "You guys are lucky… you must live like kings everywhere you go, with THIS much treasure on your hands!" Jim said, scooping up a few gold coins and jewels.

"Nah, we like to stick around here, especially since Silver's a piraACK!" Silver had elbowed BEN to keep him quiet.

"What he meant was, we're more of deh 'humble' kinds, lad." Silver said. "We feel more comfortable when we live the way we live now- simple an' carefree, comin' an' goin' as we please."

"But you could live anywhere you want with all this treasure!" Jim commented.

"Look, lad, if you're gonna stay wit' us, yer gonna have tah learn tah live like us. Dat means keeping a low profile… I mean, ye wouldn't want anyone tah come tah t'is planet an' try tah steal all t'is gold from us, would ya? Some would kill tah get their hands on t'is treasure…"

"Silver's right, Jim. I remember Captain Flint once threw a man over-board because he tried to sneak a couple rubies in his pocket!" BEN added. "A couple rubies! That's it! It's not like he was trying to STEAL anything valuable!"

"So, what do ye say, lad? Ye wanna stick wit' us and share our treasure, or go back out into dat lonely galaxy?"

Jim looked at the treasure in his hand, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Hakuna Matata…" he said, grinning. "I think I can handle having a low-profile for a while," _Especially after what happened… _he added in his mind, but pushed the thought away.

"Dat's deh spirit!" Silver then tossed some treasure into the air, gold and jewels raining down on them.

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><p>Jim lived with BEN and Silver for quite some time. Soon he was just turning 13, becoming a teenager but still joy-riding in a longboat with his two new friends.<p>

Before he knew it, he was fifteen. He had bought himself a new black leather-jacket, a large white T-shirt and a pair of cargo-pants, and a new pair of boots from a store on Kinapis, then went back through the portal to his new home.

He joined BEN and Silver in the treasure-room, where they began walking across the deck of an old, wrecked boat.

Silver and BEN: _(walking across the deck) _**Hakuna, matata, hakuna, matata, hakuna, matata, hakuna-**

Jim: **It means no worries, for the rest of your days…**

Jim, Silver, and BEN: **It's our problem free… philosophy… **_(BEN runs toward a plank and jumps into the ocean of treasure) _**Hakuna matata **_(Silver dives in next) _**Hakuna matata **_(Jim climbs up the shrouds and swings down on a rope, doing a cannon-ball into the treasure) _**Hakuna matata…**

The three friends laugh and start throwing treasure at each other, Jim grabbing a chest full of treasure and he and BEN pour it over Silver, who reaches and traps them in head-locks, only to have them reach and pull him down with them. They laugh, then begin to leave the treasure trove.

**Hakuna matata**

To his relief, Jim had found a new home, forgetting about his troubles.

For now.

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><p>AN: Next Chapter- another look at Scroop (oh joy T_T)


	9. Chapter 9: Misery and Sorrow

Alright, guys, here's the next chapter! (I also threw in a couple Disney movie refs in there, see if you can spot 'em)

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><p>While Jim's new life was getting better, on Montressor life was getting worse… a LOT worse.<p>

Houses were burned down or collapsing, the fields were nothing but dirt, all the shops had broken windows while store owners coward in fear as drunken pirates stammered out. Mothers and their children hid low, running toward the nearest boat to get off the planet… and running off when pirates yelled at them to keep off.

The ships were no better. Some had torn sails, holes in the sides, or wrecked in the field. The captains of the vessels snapped at the pirates they had to 'work' with about the disaster they caused, only to get into a brawl.

…And it was all because of Scroop's dictatorship (if you ask me, anarchy would've been a better choice).

Speaking of which, the manticore now stood in the brig of his pirate ship, antagonizing the prisoners (namely people who went against his 'laws' or just annoyed him). One of them happened to be Delbert… though, some wonder what the astronomer did to deserve to be locked up- either he argued against Scroop's decisions or the manticore just didn't like him. Whatever the reason was, the canidid was miserable, singing a sad sea-shanty out of his sorrow.

"Yo ho… haul together… hoist the colors high…" Delbert sang sadly as he sat in the brig, a large shackle around his neck that chained him to the wall of his cell (yes, like a dog). "Heave ho… thieves and beggars… never shall we die…"

"Oh, for heaven's ssssake, Delbert, if you're going to sssssing, make it a more lively tune!" Scroop scoffed. "Jussst 'cuz you're in the brig doesssn't mean you ssshould sssound ssso depresssssssed!"

Delbert thought for a moment. "I've got cabin-fever, it's burning in my brain-"

"NO! Anything but THAT!"

"Alright! Alright!" Delbert thought again. "How about this: Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me…"

Scroop rolled his eyes. "Never mind. The brig issss lively WITHOUT your ssssongs,"

"It was livelier when Leland was in control," Delbert said out of the corner of his mouth, and Scroop reached in and grabbed him by the throat. "Gack!"

"What did you sssay?"

"N-Nothing!"

"How many timesss have I told you? Never sssay that name AGAIN!" he then threw Delbert back.

By this time, Birdbrain Mary, Mr. Turnbuckle, Mr. Onis, Tone and Alf stepped down. "Oy, Scroop!" Tone shouted. "We'd like a word with you!"

Scroop sighed and rubbed his temples. "What isss it NOW?"

"We've got a bone to peek with you!" Mr. Onis snapped as he stepped forth, but Birdbrain Mary held him back.

"Let me handle this," Mary told to the others, then faced Scroop. "Scroop, deh shops are empty, an' t'ere's no food,"

"Yeah, and that blaggard Sarah Hawkins won't allow us inside her inn, keeps saying she's low on provisions!" Mr. Turnbuckle added.

"It's thossse ssspacers' faultsss! They're to pick up cargo from the ssspaceports and bring them here," Scroop replied.

"Yeah, well, they're not doing their jobs. Half of them took up all the rooms at the Benbow," Alf sneered. "I think Sarah just keeps 'em there so WE don't get any vacancy!"

"An' what about ze shops? I haven't gone on a decent raid in months! If I don't rob some-theeng, I'm gonna gouge out three of me eyes!" Mr. Onis snapped.

"Oh… rob Delbert," Scroop scoffed.

"Gah! Oh, no, you don't want to rob ME! I don't have anything valuable on me at the moment!" Delbert stammered.

"What about that pocket watch? I'm sssure it's worth ssssomething…"

"I think we were better off with Leland ruling the universe-" Mr. Turnbuckle muttered to the other pirates.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Augh! Nothing! I didn't say Leland! I said, uh, um… Greenland?"

"That'ssss what I thought. Now, get out of here, I'll handle your problemsss later,"

The pirates began to walk up the stairs, but paused. "Yeah, but… we're hungry." Alf said.

"OUT!"

With a yelp, the pirates ran off.

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><p>On the other side of the universe, Jim, Silver, and BEN soared around in a longboat, with Jim at the controls, doing barrel-roles, aerial flips, zigzags, and other crazy stunts, until they finally slowed down, hovering a couple feet above the ground. "Oy, Jim, if I could maneuver like dat when I was yer age, they'd be bowin' in deh streets when I walked by today!" Silver chuckled.<p>

"Yeah, Jimmy, where'd you learn to ride like that?" BEN asked, eagerly.

"Well, when I was a kid, I used to do stunts on my solar-surfer all the time," Jim replied, lying back and sighing. "I remember when I was ten, I snuck out of my room one night to soar around the stars, and I'd always wonder about everything that's out there,"

"Aye, we all wonder deh same things," Silver said, nodding. They all leaned back, looking up at the starry skies. "What a galaxy, eh boys?"

"Yeah, all those stars up there…" BEN agreed, then became thoughtful. "Say, Silver? How did all those stars get up in the sky in the first place?"

"Well, I remember an old legend about Gaea an' Uranus, how t'ey were separated- Gaea bein' deh earth an' Uranus bein' deh sky, an' if t'ey were tah contact each other, deh whole universe would be destroyed. It upset Gaea tah be separated from him, so as a promise for t'eir ever-lasting love Uranus scattered deh stars in-tah deh Etherium, makin' 'em go on forever, promising he'd love Gaea 'til deh stars ended."

"Huh. I always thought they were just flaming balls of fire," he turned to Jim. "What about you, Jimmy? What's your theories about the stars?"

Jim rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, there's something I heard about them… nah, never mind." he sighed.

"Ah, c'mon lad," Silver urged.

"Yeah, Jimmy, tell us!" BEN said, eagerly.

"I don't know, it's not that big-" Jim tried to protest.

"Ah, c'mon. Out wit' it!" Silver scoffed.

"Pleeeeaaaaase?" BEN begged.

Jim sighed. "Alright, alright," he said, looking up at the stars. "Someone once told me that the great spacers of the past are up there, looking out for us."

"You mean a bunch of dead guys are watching us?" BEN questioned, then began to snicker, which turned into laughter. "Ha ha! That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!"

"Aye, dat's a good one!" Silver chuckled.

"Heh heh, yeah, pretty lame, right?" Jim said half-heartedly, looking back up at the stars. His father had told him that, and he was now up in the stars watching his son…

And he had just allowed his words to be criticized.

"Then again, YOUR theories aren't all that bright, either," With that, Jim climbed out of the longboat and trudged across the field back into the jungle.

BEN and Silver watched him go, confused. "Was it something I said?" BEN asked, concerned.

"It's ALWAYS something ya say, BEN," Silver replied, then looked back at Jim, watching him disappear into the trees.

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><p>Jim walked until he came across the portal. Letting out a sigh, he pressed the button that looked like his old home-planet, and Montressor came to view, out into the distance. He sighed, wishing he could go back, just to see how everyone was doing, what his old friends were up to, how his mother was…<p>

His mother.

_What will your mother say? _Scroop's words still resounded in his head.

He bit his bottom lip, shaking his head. A ship was sailing by, and he quickly hit another button, knowing Treasure Planet had to remain a secret. _It's our little secret… _Scroop's voice came again.

…_And now I've got a new one, _Jim thought, sighing. He opened the portal to Montressor one last time, getting one more look, then turned around, walking toward the jungle, leaning against a tree and letting out a quiet sob.

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><p>Morph didn't normally fly around the universe on his own, but after Scroop took over, the small pink blob decided to risk his life out in the universe rather than around Montressor, only going as far as he could while Amelia's ship stayed in sight, going back to the vessel whenever it began to disappear in the distance.<p>

Amelia had been sailing through the universe, looking for help, but- thanks to Scroop's 'alliance' with the buccaneers- wherever they went pirates were around. Morph would scout ahead each night to find a trace of hope…

And he found it when he saw the portal, seeing Jim standing there! The blob let out an excited squeal then flew quickly to Amelia's ship.

The next morning, Amelia was overlooking a few charter-maps when she heard a *splat!* on her door. She opened it and Morph flew in, chattering excitedly. "What is it, Morph?" the felinid asked. Morph kept chattering, pointing to the east. Amelia clapped her hands around him, silencing him. "Now, tell me- in a less complicated language- what you found."

"Jim! Jim!" Morph squealed.

Amelia's ears perked up. "Come again?"

"Jim!" Morph turned into a mini-Jim at age 12, then into a teenage-Jim wearing a captain's uniform. "Spacer King!"

Amelia's eyes widened, and she ran out of her stateroom and down to the hull, quickly opening the hatch and leaping into the nearest longboat. "Show me where!"

Morph flew ahead, turning into an arrow and pointing in the direction where he saw the portal. "He's this way!"

Amelia followed him, and sure enough she saw the portal as well. It was beginning to close, and she shot ahead, flying through it, coming across the jungle, but Jim wasn't in sight.

…But she saw a set of footprints. Morph sniffed them, then transformed back into a mini-Jim, squealing ecstatically.

Amelia smirked. "It is time," she said.

* * *

><p>AN: Next chapter- Jim meets an old friend ;D


	10. Chapter 10: Jim Meets an Old Friend

Well, here's the next chapter.

* * *

><p>"Jimmy? Yoo-hoo! JIIIIIIIMMYYYY!" BEN called through the jungle as he walked. He had been looking for his friend since early this morning, when he noticed he hadn't come back to the cave. <em>What if he's still mad about what we said? What if he decided to leave forever? <em>he thought to himself, which made him quicken his pace. "Jim! Marco! …C'mon, you know how this works! Just say 'Polo'! Marco! MARCO!" he then paused, curiously. "Who's Marco? And what am I doing out here, again? …Oh, yeah! Mar- I mean, JIM! Where are you?"

The robot had even convinced Silver to come along (after hours of begging, pleading, whining, griping, and annoying rambling), even though the cyborg believed Jim would be fine, having been on his own before. But as he walked through the jungle now, he couldn't help but feel a little concerned, having grown attached to the young lad, feeling as if he were his own son.

"Jimbo! Where'd ya go?" Silver called. _Maybe he used the portal to go somewhere. _he thought, and walked to the cliff, only to see that the portal had automatically closed, only able to be open for 24 hours. _Hopefully the lad didn't go anywhere, otherwise he'd have to accidentally find this planet all over again. _"Ah, blast it, Jim… where are ya?"

Back with BEN, he found Jim… or, at least he thought. "Jimmy! At last I found you!" The robot exclaimed, seeing a patch of brunette hair and leaping toward it… only to find it was an monkeel, who didn't take a liking to being squeezed, and zapped the robot with it's fin-like tail.

*ZAP!*

With that, the slimy-skinned simian ran off. "(cough, cough) Sorry, I thought you were someone else!"

*crunch, crunch*

BEN looked over, hearing the sound of leaves being stepped on. "Jimmy?" he ran over, looking over an over-turned centipede tree.

Unbeknownst to the robot, someone else was in the jungle, watching him from the top of a tree, a knife in their hand. BEN scratched his head, not seeing anything on the other side of the tree… except a shadow of a figure standing in the tree. He looked over his shoulder…

Seeing a woman leaped at him. "AAAAUUUGH!" He ran off, screaming as the woman landed on the ground and began to pursue him.

"Get back here, you metallic coward!" The woman shouted at him, her messy blonde hair blowing in the air as she ran, knife raised.

"Help! Oh, help, somebody help! Silver! Jim! MOMMY!" BEN ran down a path, tripping over a tree root, tumbling into a clump of vines and getting tangled. "Gah!"

Silver heard the commotion and followed BEN's screams, finding him caught in the vines. "BEN! What's goin' on? What's wit' all deh screaming?" he asked, trying to untie BEN.

"SHE'S GOING TO KILL MEEEE!"

"Who?" Silver looked over, just in time to see the woman run through the clearing. "Ah, blast it!" he switched his arm into a sword. "Why do I always have tah save yer- AUGH!"

That 'augh' came when Silver's cyborg-leg stepped into a hole, making him trip and fall into a vine-patch, his cyborg-arm caught. He gasped, seeing the woman lunge toward them-

*BAM!*

At the last moment, Jim swung down from a vine and kicked the woman in the abdomen, knocking the knife out of her hands. He then tackled her, trying to catch her in a headlock, but she flipped him over, running to retrieve her knife, but Jim tripped her and the two of them began to wrestle.

"Dat's it, lad! Show no mercy, give it to her!" Silver called to Jim as he tried to tug his arm loose, then turned to BEN. "See? I TOLD ya letting deh lad stay was a good idea,"

BEN arched an eyebrow. "You never said that!" he replied.

"Yes I did, you're jus' too scatterbrained tah remember,"

The woman finally managed to pin Jim to the ground, reaching her knife and holding it against his throat. Jim glowered at her eye-to-eye… though, through the dirt on her face and her messy hair, he noticed she seemed familiar- and he felt déjà vu in the position he was in…

Then it dawned on him. "Natalie? Natalie Crow?" he gasped.

The woman stared at him, eyes wide, and crawled off of him. "H-How do you know my name?" she stammered.

"Don't you recognize me?"

She eyed him. He DID look familiar, but she couldn't place a name. "Who ARE you?"

"It's me… Jim Hawkins."

Her eyes widened. "Jim?" A smile spread across her face, and she ran toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "WHOA! Jim! Oh, my gosh!"

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?"

Silver and BEN just gawked, looking at each other. The cyborg finally managed to rip his arm free and approached the two teens. "Hey! Hold it! Could someone please tell me WHAT DEH BLUE BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE?" he demanded.

"Silver, this is my old friend, Natalie Crow," Jim said, then turned to Natalie. "Nat, this is Silver. And the robot tangled in the vines is BEN."

BEN, by this point, miraculously managed to untangle himself, and walked up to Natalie. "Hey, nice to meet you, Natalie!" he exclaimed, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you guys," Natalie said as she began to shake Silver's organic hand as well.

"Pleasure's all mine- wait a minute!" Silver responded. "Weren't ya jus' trying tah kill us a minute ago?"

Natalie rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that. I've been traveling in space for so long, and there's so many psychos running around, some of them even stealing the last of my money, forcing me to start looting to survive. I came across this planet when my longboat lost energy, stranding me here until my sails are powered again, but I didn't expect there to be anyone on it."

"Ah, it's no problem now, as long as we're all alive," BEN said, patting her on the back. "By the way, how do you know Jim?"

"We were friends back on Montressor… We all thought he was dead, but to see him alive and well… Man, Jim, what would your mother say?"

Jim cringed. "I-I don't think she needs to know…" he muttered.

"Why not? She's been a wreck since you've been gone, she'd be ecstatic to see you! …And since you're alive, you can take your father's place as the Spacer King!"

"What?" BEN, Silver, and Jim all said.

Silver let out a chuckle. "Jimbo? A king?" he put his arm around Natalie. "Oy, lass, I don't t'ink you've been breathin' in enough oxygen. Jim ain't a king!" he turned to Jim, arching an eyebrow. "…Are ya?"

"A KING?" BEN gasped, then grabbed Jim's hand. "Oh, your majesty!" he then began to smooch his hand, which Jim quickly pulled back.

"Cut it out, BEN, it's not true," Jim said, firmly.

"Jim!" Natalie gasped.

"No, I'm not the king! Guys, I'm the same, regular kid you found years ago…"

"But wit' power!" Silver added.

Natalie cleared her throat. "Um, guys? Would you mind if I spoke with Jim alone?" she asked.

"Hey, anything ye can say tah Jim, ye can say in front of us! …Well, me, mostly. BEN tends tah blurt t'ings out."

"Actually guys, I'd like to talk to Natalie alone, too. You know, catch up with her and stuff," Jim said in a whisper.

Silver's face fell, and he shrugged. "An' it starts… C'mon BEN,"

"Why do we have to go? What are they going to talk about that's so secretive? And I do NOT blurt things out! I never blurted out your secret about being a pirACK!" BEN began to gripe, until Silver yanked him away into the jungle.

Jim chuckled, shaking his head. "Silver and BEN… What can you do with them, huh?" he said, then looked over at Natalie, sitting on a log with her back to him. "Natalie?" he walked over and sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"It's like you're back from the dead…" she replied, wincing as she looked at him. "You don't know how much this means to everyone,"

Jim nodded. "I guess everyone's missed me…"

"Especially me," she hugged him tight, letting her tears land on his shoulder. "I've missed you so much…"

He hugged her back. "I've missed you too…"

Silver and BEN watched Jim and Natalie from a patch of tall bamboo plants. "Ah, blast it, he's lost it!" Silver snapped.

"I didn't LOSE it! Someone just ripped my memory circuit out, so it was clearly STOLEN." BEN sneered.

"I wasn't talkin' about YOU, ya numbskull. I was talkin' about THEM!" he pointed at Jim and Natalie. "Him. Her. ALONE."

Silver: **I can see what's happening…**

"What?" BEN asked, confused.

**An' they don't have a clue!**

"Who?"

**They'll fall in love, an' here's deh bottom line- our trio's down tah two.**

BEN now understood. "Oh… Wait, who'll fall in love?"

**Deh sweet caress of starlight, t'ere's magic in deh air. An' wit' all t'is roma-a-antic atmosphere… disaster's in deh air!**

"What are you talking about?" BEN scoffed, then looked at Jim and Natalie as they walked off, hand in hand. "Aw, would you look at that? I think Jimmy's found a girlfriend!"

* * *

><p>Unknown Chorus: <strong>Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings… The galaxy for once, in perfect harmony, with all it's living things…<strong>

Jim led Natalie around the planet toward the a cliff, where they looked out at the sunset. He began to feel uncertain about how he should explain his disappearance to her.

Jim (thinking): **So many things to tell her, but how to make her see… The truth about my past, impossible. She'd turn away from me…**

Natalie looked over at him, catching his expression, wondering what was going on with her friend, and he walked back into the jungle.

Natalie (thinking): **He's holding back, he's hiding, but what I can't decide. Why won't he be the captain I know he is, the captain I see inside?**

She watched as Jim ran out and jumped over the side of the cliff, holding something under his arm. She looked over the edge down at the jungle below, wondering where he had gone…

Chorus: **Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings…**

Jim shot up in his make-shift solar-surfer, grabbing her and flying up into the air, then landing on the side of the cliff, chuckling. Natalie gasped, gripping her chest and feeling her heart race, then glared at Jim and swiped his solar-surfer and took off, giving him no choice but to chase her.

**The galaxy for once, in perfect harmony, with all it's living things**

Natalie tried flying on Jim's solar-surfer, him running below her, but suddenly the engine died out and she began to fall. Jim quickly lunged forth and caught her, both of them chuckling with relief, and Natalie planted at kiss on his cheek. (a/n: please… no fan-girl riots)

**Can you feel the love tonight? You needn't look too far…**

Jim looked at her, surprised, and she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling like the stars in the sky.

**Stealing through, the night's uncertainties**

He hugged her tight, and she returned his embrace, and he was glad to have to be with his old friend again… feeling closer to her than he ever did before.

**Love is where they are**

* * *

><p>Silver: <strong>An' if he falls in love tonight, <strong>(_BEN sniffles)_** it can be assumed…**

BEN: **His every-days with us are history…**

Silver and BEN: **In short our pal is doo-oo-oomed.**

"Pardon me, BEN… I got a bit o' grease in t'is cyborg eye o' mine," Silver said, walking off.

BEN's pupils expanded and his bottom lip began to tremble. "WAAAAH-HAAAAAA!" he wailed.

* * *

><p>AN: Next Chapter- Jim gets in a fight with Natalie, gets some sense knocked into him (literately), and will see a familiar face…


	11. Chapter 11: Going Back At Last

And now… the next chapter.

* * *

><p>"So, if you've been alive all this time, why didn't you ever come back to Montressor?" Natalie asked Jim as they walked through the jungle.<p>

"I wandered around the universe for a while and my solar-surfer landed me on this planet," Jim said, only telling her half the truth. He then climbed onto a low tree branch and eased back. "And it's been great. There's no worries, you can go wherever you want, and I just didn't want to leave."

"Well, I think it's time you did. Ever since you've left, Scroop's been in control!"

Jim arched an eyebrow. "Scroop?"

"Everything's gone wrong! There's no food, all the spacers are being trialed for crimes, pirates are running loose… Jim, if you don't come back, everyone will starve and die!"

"What about you? YOU left."

"I left to go find help! And I found you… Don't you understand? You're our only hope."

Jim sighed and climbed off the branch. "I can't…"

"Why not?"

"I just can't! …H-Hakuna matata."

"Hakuna ma-what?"

"Hakuna matata. It's something I learned here. Bad things happen-"

"Jim!"

"And there's nothing you can do about it! So why bother?"

Natalie glared at him. "What's wrong with you? You're not the boy I once knew!"

Jim sneered at her. "You're right. I'm not." he then began to walk away from her.

"Don't turn your back on me, Jim!"

He scoffed. "You sound just like my dad,"

Natalie balled her fists. "At least ONE of us does!"

Jim paused, then turned angrily towards Natalie. "Look, you don't know what I've been through!"

"I would if you'd just TELL me!"

"Forget it!" Jim began to storm away.

"FINE!" Natalie trudged off in the other direction.

Jim entered an open field, pacing angrily. "She's wrong… I can't go back. Not after what happened…" he began to wince, looking up at the stars. "YOU SAID YOU'D ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME!" he hung his head low. "But you're not… and it's all my fault. It's all my fault…"

"All my fault! All my fault!" came a high-pitched voice, and he looked over, seeing a small pink blob floating a short distance away from him.

He only sneered and continued walking. "Weird little blob…" he continued to walk.

*SPLOOSH!*

Water shot at the back of his head and he jerked around, seeing the pink blob had transformed into some sort of fish, then reverted back, laughing. "That's it, you little squib!" he raced after the blob, trying to catch it.

"You little squib!" the blob repeated, turning into a mini-Jim, dodging his swipes. "Little squib! Little squib!"

"Morph!" came a voice, and Amelia stepped out of the trees. "That'll be enough."

Morph nodded and flew back to Amelia's side. Jim arched an eyebrow, approaching her. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Captain Amelia Smollett… now then, who are YOU?" she poked his chest.

Jim rubbed his chest, sneering. "Jim… where did you come from?"

"I believe the real question is, where are you going?"

Jim began to walk away. "I think you're a little confused,"

"I'm not confused. I know where I have to be, just like YOU do."

He scoffed. "What makes you think you'd know where I have to go? I hardly know you!"

"But I know you. You're the son of Leland, Mr. Hawkins."

Jim froze, then spun around, facing Amelia… who was now standing on a tree branch.

"Farewell," with that, the felinid began leaping and flipping through the trees.

"Hey, wait!" Jim shouted, following her. He found her sitting on a rock, Morph hovering on her shoulder. "You knew my father?"

"Correction, I KNOW your father."

"Know your father!" Morph repeated, turning into a mini-Leland.

Jim sighed. "I hate to tell you this… but he died a long time ago."

"And THAT'S where you're wrong again!" Amelia exclaimed, flicking his nose then running deeper into the jungle. "Come with me,"

"Come!" Morph repeated, following her.

"Hold on!" Jim cried, running after her. _Geez, what's with this woman and running? _he thought.

Amelia ran through, flipped, leaped, dived, and swung over branches, bushes, rocks, fallen trees, tube-like plants, and pieces of broken machinery… while Jim struggled to keep up. They came across a tall patch of bamboo plants-

"STOP!" Amelia ordered, holding up her palm right in Jim's face, while Morph transformed into a 'Stop' sign. She raised a finger to her lips, shushing Jim as she pulled back the bamboo. "He's right through here.

"This way," Morph chattered, floating beside Jim.

Jim walked through, seeing a rope ladder hanging in front of him, leading him up to a ship. Morph nudged him, urging him to climb it. Sighing, he did so, Amelia right behind him, climbing up over the edge of the ship, onto the deck. Morph then motioned him to follow, guiding him down to the hull, where an old cracked mirror stood behind a couple of crates.

"Leland! Leland!"

Jim sighed and shook his head. "That's not my father… it's only my reflection," he muttered.

"Look closer," Amelia whispered, wiping the dust off the mirror. Jim watched as the image in the mirror shifted… and he saw his father's face. "You see, he lives in _you_."

Jim's eyes widened, and suddenly he heard a rumbling sound. He ran back up on deck, seeing that storm clouds were rolling in… and he heard a familiar voice: "_Jim_…"

"D-Dad?" he stammered, watching as the clouds shifted into his father's face.

"Jim, you have forgotten me," his father said, his voice firm, almost echoing through the sky.

"No, no I haven't! I couldn't!"

"You have forgotten yourself, therefore you have forgotten me. You have forgotten your place in this life, and you must go back."

He winced. "I can't… I can't go back… I'm-"

"You are my son, and the rightful King of Spacers. You must do what's right, and take your place as king." his image then began to fade.

"No, don't leave me!"

"Remember… who you are…"

"Dad, no! Don't go! Please…" Jim stopped at the bough of the ship, watching as the clouds rolled away. He stood there, staring up at the stars, thinking about what he had just seen… who he had seen, and what his father said.

"Quite some strange weather just now, wasn't it?" Amelia asked, stepping up to Jim.

"Yeah… it's like the winds in the Etherium are beginning to change," Jim replied, looking up at the stars.

"Ah, yes. Change is good,"

"Change is good! Change is GOOD!" Morph repeated, shifting into a mini-Amelia.

Jim nodded, sighing. "I know what I have to do now… but I can't face my past." he said.

"I see…" Amelia said, rubbing her chin. "Morph, would you mind 'knocking' a bit of sense into Mr. Hawkins, please?"

"Okay!" Morph squealed.

*WHACK!*

Morph had transformed into an ore and hit Jim on the head. "OW! What the HECK was THAT for?" he snapped.

"What does it matter? It's in the past." Amelia retorted. "Figure out anything?"

Jim rubbed his head. "It hurts… geez!"

"I figured that much. …Morph?"

Morph turned into a bat and took a swing at Jim again, but this time he ducked. "What the-?"

"See? You DID figure something out. By remembering that Morph had hit you on my command, you learned from it and kept yourself from getting hit again."

"Strike three?" Morph asked.

"No, Morph."

"Aw…"

Jim thought about it. "So… instead of running from my past, I need to learn from it," he realized.

"So, Mr. Hawkins, what are you going to do, now?"

He smirked. "Well, first, I'm going to get back at Morph," with that, he caught Morph and shoved him into a suction pipe, making the blob shoot through it.

"Hey!" Amelia ran over to the pipe and looking into it. She then looked over, watching as Jim was flying off in her longboat. "What in the Etherium are you doing?"

"I'm going back!" Jim called.

"Well, good! Get out of here!" Amelia laughed. Morph shot out of the other end of the pipe next to her, coughing out black smoke.

"Good riddance!" Morph chattered.

* * *

><p>AN: Next Chapter- Jim


	12. Chapter 12: The Truth Comes Out

Well, I'm write-happy. Here's the next chapter!

* * *

><p>The early-morning sun rose above Treasure Planet, a bit of light shining into the cave where BEN and Silver slept in their hammocks- BEN in the top hammock and Silver in the bottom. Natalie entered the cave and walked over to them, tapping on BEN's shoulder. "Hey, BEN, wake up," she whispered.<p>

"Ugh, c'mon, Mom, it's Saturday…" BEN groaned, rubbing his eyes. He opened them, seeing he was face-to-face with Natalie. "AAAIIIEEE!" he fell out of the hammock-

*THUD!*

"OOF!"

…landing on Silver…

*CRASH!*

…and both of them landed on the floor. "Confound it, BEN, what's wit' all deh screamin'?" Silver demanded.

"That manic girl from yesterday found our cave!" BEN yelped, hiding behind Silver.

Silver rolled his eyes. "It's NATALIE, ya screw-brained bot. Jim's friend?"

"Oh, yeah…" BEN walked up to Natalie. "Sheesh, Nat, didn't your parents tell you not to sneak up on people like that? You nearly gave me a battery-attack!"

"I'm looking for Jim." Natalie said. "Have you guys seen him, anywhere?"

"We t'ought he was wit' ya," Silver replied. "Ah, blast it! Don't tell me deh lad ran off again!"

"He ran off alright… to where he belongs," came a voice, and the three looked over, seeing Amelia standing in the mouth of the cave.

"What are you talking about?" BEN asked.

She smiled. "Lets just say… the king has returned,"

"Then… that means…" Natalie gasped, smiling.

"Means what?" BEN asked, then turned back to Amelia, only to see that she was gone.

"What's going on here, lass? Who was dat feline?" Silver asked.

"And what happened to Jimmy?" BEN demanded.

"Jim's going back to challenge Scroop!" Natalie said.

"Who?" Silver asked.

"Scroop."

"What's a Scroop?" BEN asked.

"Listen. Jim's going back to Montressor to take his place as the Spacer King, and in order to do that he must face his father's old first-mate, Scroop, who took over the position."

BEN scratched his head. "Run that by me, again?"

"Don't ya get it, BEN? Jimbo needs our help!" Silver said.

"_Oh_… Help with what?"

Natalie and Silver both slapped their foreheads.

* * *

><p>Jim had flown the longboat to the portal, quickly pushing the button to Montressor and flying through it. He sailed across the stars toward his home planet, hovering above a few cliffs until he found a discrete place to land, then began walking through the savaged remains of his home. He looked around at all the wreckages, broken homes, small fires, and deserted, trash-filled streets. <em>Natalie was right… Everything has gone wrong, <em>he thought.

He walked up to the top of a hill, where he got a clear view of the Benbow in the distance- the only building that hadn't been destroyed. "Jim!" someone called, and he looked over, seeing Natalie. She walked up next to him, following his gaze. "Horrible, isn't it?"

"Yeah… and it's my job to make it right," Jim replied.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I got some sense knocked into me… and I've got the bump to prove it. Besides, this is my home. If I won't fight for it, who will?"

"I will."

Jim smirked. "It's going to be dangerous,"

Natalie grinned. "Danger? Ha! I laugh in the face of danger! Ha ha ha ha!"

"I don't see anything funny 'bout t'is." came Silver's voice as he and BEN walked up next to the two teens.

"Silver! BEN! You guys came, too?" Jim asked, surprised.

"There's no way we're going to let you face this alone, Jimmy!" BEN scoffed, then became curious. "What, exactly, are we facing again?"

Silver looked across the damaged landscape. "Oy, you're going tah fight fer all t'is?" he asked.

"I have to, Silver. This is my home," Jim replied.

"I see… Well, Jimbo, if it matters dat much tah ya, we're wit' ya to deh end,"

Jim smiled at his friends. _Looks like I'm not alone, anymore. _he thought. "Alright, lets go,"

* * *

><p>They snuck into town, getting closer to the Inn, ducking behind the remains of a house when they saw a band of pirates lounging around the hill below it. "Pirates, eh? I got a bad experience wit' t'ese blokes," Silver said, whispering. "So, what's yer plan tah git past those brutes, Jim?"<p>

"Live. Bait." Jim whispered.

"Ooh, good plan! Where are we going to find live bait?" BEN asked.

Jim looked at both BEN and Silver, shrugging. "Ah, no ya don't!" Silver sneered.

"C'mon, we need a distraction if we're going to get to the Benbow," Jim retorted.

"What do ya want me tah do? Meander up tah them like a drunken bum?"

* * *

><p>The pirates were lounging about when they heard a voice. "AHOY, LADS!" it shouted, and they looked over, seeing a cyborg and robot walking toward them. "Ye ugly bunch wouldn't happen tah know where deh nearest pub would be, would ya?"<p>

"Eh heh… pardon my friend, guys! He's a little loopy at the moment." BEN said, trying to guide Silver away. "We just got off a ship and was looking for a place to stay…"

"And a place tah put t'ese jewels," Silver said, pulling out a handful of jewels from Treasure Planet, which he stuck in his pocket before they left. "Any of ya lads want tah hang on tah it?"

The pirates grinned, holding up their swords.

"BEN?"

"Yeah, Silver?" BEN replied.

"Now, would be a good time… tah RUN!" With that, Silver and BEN took off down the street, the gang of pirates chasing after them. _Jim owes us BIG for this! _the cyborg thought as they ran.

With the pirates gone, Jim and Natalie began heading toward the Inn. "I'm going to go find Scroop. You find my mom and rally the other spacers," Jim whispered.

"Right. Good luck, Jim," Natalie replied, then snuck off.

Jim walked up to the Inn, sneaking around the corner, seeing a few extra pirates standing on the docks, while Scroop stood at the bough of the RLS Legacy. "SSSARAH HAWKINS!" The manticore bellowed.

Jim gasped, ducking down, watching as his mom stepped out of the Benbow, walking down the path past a line of pirates, who made growling noises, whistled, and called her names as she passed them, but she paid no attention to them and stepped onto the deck of the ship, approaching Scroop without showing a trace of fear.

"Why won't you let my men into your Inn?"

"I refuse to give service to pirates, Scroop. I'm low enough on supplies as it is, without any brutes ransacking the place," Sarah replied, sternly. "There's hardly enough food for the spacers who live in it, now."

"You're jussst being ssstubborn!"

"You're the stubborn one. Look around, Scroop- every town on the planet is destroyed, and ships have stopped sailing here because of the pirates. You have no other choice but sentence them to the gallows, or find a new planet to let them rampage on."

"I'm not doing any of that!"

"Then you have sentence yourself in assistance in piracy and caused the planet's extinction."

"Ssso be it!"

Sarah glowered. "You can't do that!"

"I'm the king! I can do anything I want!"

"If you were half the king Leland was-"

*WHAP!*

Scroop smacked Sarah across the deck. "I'm ten times the king Leland wasss!"

"SCROOP!" Jim bellowed from the docks. Scroop looked over, his eyes widening, and he backed away as Jim ran up the gang plank toward Sarah.

"Leland? No, it can't be! You're dead!"

Jim knelt beside his mother, helping her sit up. "Leland…?" she asked groggily, looking at him.

"No. It's me, Mom." Jim replied.

Sarah's eyes widened. "Jim? Oh, Jim!" she then hugged him. "But… how can it be?"

"It doesn't matter, now. I'm home,"

"Jim?" Scroop questioned, feigning a smile. "Jim! I'm a little sssurprised to sssee you…" he then glowered over at five familiar pirates. "Alive?"

Birdbrain Mary, Turnbuckle, Onis, Tone and Alf gulped and backed away.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat," Jim said coldly, approaching Scroop and taking out his dagger.

"Jim, you mussst underssstand. The presssure of ruling the galaxy-" Scroop tried to say.

"Are no longer yours. Step down, Scroop."

"Oh, of courssse, Jim… but there'ssss one problem: them," Scroop replied, pointing over the side of the boat at the pirates on the docks. "They think I'M king,"

"Well, we don't!" Natalie's voice snapped, and the manticore looked over, seeing her and several other spacers stepping onto the ship. "Jim's the rightful king,"

"The choice is yours, Scroop," Jim said. "Either step down or fight,"

"Why mussst it end in violence?" Scroop asked, walking by Jim. "I'd hate to be resssponsible for the death of sssomeone who's like family to me… or an actual family member. Wouldn't you agree, Jim?"

Jim glowered. "It's not going to work, Scroop. I've put it behind me!"

"And what about your faithful crewmatesss? Have they put it behind themsssselves as well?"

"Jim, what is he talking about?" Natalie asked.

"Ah, ssso you DIDN'T tell them," Scroop began pacing between Jim and the spacers. "Well, now'sss your chance, Jim. Now'sss your chance to tell them who'ssss resssponsible for Leland'sss death!"

Natalie, Sarah, and the other spacers looked at Jim, eyes wide. Jim kept his head held high, and stepped up. "I am."

They all gasped, and Sarah walked up to Jim. "It's not true," she said, stunned. "Tell me it's not true!"

Jim bowed his head. "It's true."

"You sssee? He admitsss it!" Scroop snapped. "_Murderer_,"

"No, it was an accident!"

"If it weren't for you, Leland would ssstill be alive! It'sss your fault he's dead! Do you deny it?"

"No…"

"Then you're _guilty_!"

"No, I'm not a murder!"

Lightening flashed, and Jim found himself backing away from Scroop, toward the edge of the ship. "Oh, Jim, you're in trouble again, but thisss time Daddy isssn't here to sssave you. And now… everyone. Knowsss. WHY!"

Jim gasped, falling over the railing. "JIM!" Natalie cried. Lightening flashed and a storm began to blow through, as if it were a supernova all over again. Acting fast, Jim grabbed onto a rope hanging over the edge of the ship, and began to pull himself up.

Scroop stood at the side of the ship, watching him. "Now, thisss looks familiar. Hmm, now where have I ssseen thisss before?" he asked himself innocently. "Oh, yesss, thisss iss jussst how your father looked before he died," he then grabbed Jim by the shirt collar, pulling him to eye level. "And now, let me tell you MY little ssssecret," he then leaned close, whispering into this ear. "I… killed… Leland…"

Jim's eyes widened, the memory of his father's death flashing through his mind:

"_AAAAAAUUUUGH!" Leland screamed as he fell, being engulfed by the waves._

"_NOOOOOOOOO-" Jim screamed, watching his father fall…_

"-OOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed know, swinging himself forth and knocking Scroop down, pinning him to the deck with his dagger at his throat. "MURDERER!"

Everyone gasped, even Scroop was shocked. "No, Jim, please-" Scroop stammered.

"Tell them the truth!"

"Truth? Well, the truth iss in the eye of the beholderACK!" Jim pressed the knife harder against Scroop's throat, choking him. "Alright… Gack… ALRIGHT! … I did it…"

"So they can HEAR you!"

Scroop glowered. "I… Killed LELAND!"

The pirates took this opportunity and ran aboard the ship, engaging in the battle.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry to end it at the most epic part! Next chapter: EPIC FIGHT! JIM VS SCROOP! DON'T MISS IT!


	13. Chapter 13: Battle Time!

And now for the EPIC chapter.

* * *

><p>All the spacers lunged forth with their swords and pistols as the pirates attacked, keeping them at bay while Jim handled Scroop. A couple pirates managed to get through and grab Jim, but Natalie shot at them, making them release her friend.<p>

The pirates were beginning to over-power the spacers, the numbers two-to-one with each brawl… up until a plasma-blast stunned a pirate as Silver and BEN ran on board, fighting their way through the ship, knocking pirates overboard. "Outta deh way! Coming through! Watch out!" Silver yelled as he knocked pirates out of his way.

"Bring it on! Bring it on!" BEN shouted, jabbing his fists at the air.

Jim was fighting off five pirates, who started to corner him… one of them diving off a stack of crates and knocking him down, preparing to slit his throat-

*WHACK!*

…Until a floating baseball bat knocked the buccaneer unconscious. Jim looked up, watching as Amelia swung down, kicking a few pirates in the faces. She stood in the middle of the pirates, posing like a karate-master, and- fighting like one- punched and kicked each pirate that lunged at her. One pirate popped up behind her. "YOW!" she shouted, punching the pirate in the face… without even looking behind her!

BEN ran screaming across the deck, down into the brig. Delbert saw him coming from his cell. "Let me out! Let me out!" the astronomer cried.

"Let me in! Let me in!" BEN shouted, opening the cell door and slamming it behind him as Birdbrain Mary, Turnbuckle, Onis, Alf, and Tone neared, and he gripped onto Delbert for dear life. "Please, spare me…"

"Hold it right there, lads," Silver's voice came, and the pirates turned and arched an eyebrow at him.

"Who's t'is half-metallic bum?" Birdbrain Mary sneered.

"Don't ya remember me, lass? Deh lot of us used tah sail together…"

"Wait, he looks familiar…" Tone said, rubbing his chin.

"Up 'til ye bound 'n' gagged me…"

"Do you remember heem?" Mr. Onis asked Mr. Turnbuckle, who shook his head.

"An' threw me in-tah a longboat…"

"Wait a minute…" Birdbrain Mary gasped.

"An' left me tah die after takin' me arm, leg an' eye?"

The pirates' jaws all dropped. "Oh, no…" they all gulped.

"Oh, yes…" Silver then switched his cyborg arm into a cannon. "It's PAYBACK TIME!"

*ZAP!*

*POW!*

*BAM!*

*WHACK!*

*THONK!*

*BOOM!*

*BANG!*

*CRASH!*

*CRUNCH!*

*SNAP!*

All the pirates ran out of the brig, some of them charred, the lucky ones maimed, while Silver, BEN, Delbert, and a few freed spacers behind them, cheering.

Jim in the meantime looked around, seeing Scroop running up the deck. The manticore knocked down an oil lamp off the mast, setting fire to the deck and leaving a wall of flames between him and Jim, but that didn't stop the teenager. He climbed up the shrouds, grabbed a rope, and swung over the flames, landing behind Scroop, who he now had cornered.

"Murderer…" Jim said coldly, glowering at Scroop as he drew close, his dagger still in his hand.

"J-Jim, lisssten, you can't kill me! I-I'm part of the crew… I'm practically family!" Scroop begged, nervously. "It's thossse piratesss. They talked me into it. They're the REAL enemy!"

Beyond the flames, Birdbrain Mary, Mr. Turnbuckle, Mr. Onis, Tone and Alf stood, hearing Scroop. Glowering, they stepped away, disappearing behind the fire.

"No, Scroop… I'm not like you."

"Oh, thank you, Jim…"

"Don't think I'm going easy on you. You're going to regret what you've done,"

"What do you want me to do? I'll do anything to pay off my debt!"

Jim stared at him, eye-to-eye. "Run away, Scroop. Run away, and never return…"

Scroop stared at Jim in disbelief, hearing the cruelty in his voice and the hatred in his eyes, and he began to skitter away. "Alright… I'll go," he walked over to the rope Jim and swung down on, seeing it was in flames. "As you wisssh, your _majesssty_!" he quickly grabbed the rope and threw it at Jim, having it hit his shirt.

"Augh!" Jim cried, throwing the rope off of him and wiping the embers off his shirt-

*Bam!*

Giving Scroop a chance to punch him. The manticore swiped at Jim with his pincers, catching him by the throat but the teenager slit his arm with his dagger, freeing himself and trying to swipe at his gut. Scroop blocked his strike and took a swing at his abdomen, but Jim dodged him. The teenager then swung his knife, leaving a scrape on Scroop's face, and the manticore brought up his left claw, leaving Jim with a scrape of his own.

*Smack!*

Scroop hit Jim upside the jaw, knocking him against the side of the ship. Jim watched in horror as Scroop lunged, leaping over flames, claws raised. Acting fast, Jim kicked his legs up at the last minute, sending Scroop over the edge of the ship, looking over and watching as the manticore landed in a longboat.

Scroop groaned, looking up, seeing the other pirates sitting around him. "Ah, my friendssss," he said with relief.

"Friends? I t'ought we was deh enemy," Birdbrain Mary scoffed.

"That's what I heard," Mr. Turnbuckle agreed.

"I believe I heard him say some-theeng like zat, didn't you?" Mr. Onis said to Tone and Alf.

"Sure did," Alf replied while Tone nodded.

Scroop's eyes widened, as the pirates threw him aboard their ship and the rest of them surrounded him. "No, wait, let me explain… I had no choice! It was a lie! Wait, pleassse! No, no no…!" he stammered, screaming as all the pirates lunged as their ship disappeared into the Etherium…

* * *

><p>AN: -does happy dance- Yay, the spider-psycho is finally dead! *throws confetti, pops champagne, and tosses streamers*

…Then again… this means the last chapter is next… -party suddenly dies-

Oh, well. At least it'll be a happy ending, right?


	14. Chapter 14: A New Beginning

And now… the last chapter.

* * *

><p>The rain began to pour on the planet, putting out all the fires, including the one on the RLS Legacy. All the spacers and civilians walked through the rain toward the Benbow, where the heroes had gathered.<p>

Jim walked through the dining area of the Benbow, seeing his mother and hugging her, while Natalie walked up and hugged him as well. All the spacers patted him on the back as they walked by, and BEN tried to leap out and hug him but Silver held him back. Jim chuckled then hugged BEN (much to his surprise) and Silver patted him on the back. He felt a tap on his shoulder, seeing a floating hand, which changed into Morph, who pointed over at the top of the stairs, where Amelia was waiting for him.

Jim nodded then walked up the steps toward Amelia, who smiled and placed her hands on his shoulders, then hugged him. She then pointed down the hall toward the balcony. "It is time," she said to him.

Taking a deep breath, Jim walked out onto the balcony, looking down at the crowd of civilians and spacers that looked up with him, his friends among them. He looked up at the sky, where the clouds were starting to part, showing a few stars in the sky. _"Remember who you are…" _his father's voice echoed in his mind.

Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out the medallion around his neck. "I'll never forget again," he told himself, then raised the medallion for all to see. "I am the Spacer King!"

The crowd cheered, the spacers sticking their swords in the air in salute.

Everyone then bowed to Jim, just like how they had done 16 years ago when they first laid eyes on the ruler of their galaxy.

* * *

><p>During Jim's first year of rule, the homes on Montressor were rebuilt, along with a few wrecked ships, and every pirate that dared showed their face was thrown into the brig and sent to the gallows. Soon, everything was lively in the universe again, and mercer ships were back on their usual routes, bringing supplies to all the planets.<p>

…Except for one occasion, where all the spacers and civilians once again gathered around the Benbow Inn.

_**Till we find our place, on the path unwinding**_

Jim, Natalie, Delbert, Silver, and BEN stood on the balcony, Jim holding Natalie's hand- both of them wearing wedding rings. (a/n: sorry Jim fan-girls)

_**In the circle…**_

Amelia then stepped up between them, a bundle in her arms. The baby turned its head, showing it had blue eyes and blonde hair… and was wearing pink.

_**The circle of life**_

_**(the circle of…)**_

Amelia then held the Spacer Princess up for all to see.

_**Life…**_

**THE END**

* * *

><p>AN: Well, I hope you all enjoyed the story! Thank you all for reading and reviewing, and hopefully I'll hear from you again in the sequel ;)


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